UCSF. The administration of the University of California, San Francisco, said it has taken “immediate action” after a UCSF professor and doctor targeted an Israeli student over social media, saying in a post that students were allegedly “concerned that a first-year student from Israel is in their class. They’re asking if he participated in the genocide of Palestinians in the IDF before matriculating into medical school in CA.” According to the Jewish News of Northern California, the professor in question is Dr. Rupa Marya, a clinical professor of internal medicine at the highly-regarded medical school, who “has championed strident pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist activism at the university.” For instance, in January 2024, Marya tweeted that “the presence of Zionism in U.S. medicine should be examined as a structural impediment to health equity. Zionism is a supremacist, racist ideology.”

As her post targeting the student gained attention over the weekend, it was deleted, as well as her Twitter and Instagram accounts. Nonetheless, it was met with a strong reaction from the Israeli consulate in San Francisco, and State Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, wrote: “This professor is creating a toxic, hostile environment at UCSF.” A statement from UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood says nothing about antisemitism or the impact on Jews and Israelis at the school but does say: “Targeting any member of our UCSF community — especially in a way that fosters hostility or discrimination — will not be tolerated.” This follows an August 2024 letter sent by three House members regarding “antisemitic harassment and intimidation at UCSF and its associated medical centers under UCSF Health.”

👉 TAKE ACTION: As Jewish student groups prepare to honor the victims of 10/7 and foster unity on campus, groups like SJP are planning protests, encampments and checkpoints, threatening to create chaos and division. Now is the time to act — urge your school’s leadership to take immediate steps to protect student safety and decisively oppose these antisemitic disruptions.

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Harvard. Nearly 1,000 alumni, friends and members of the Jewish community came together to support Jewish students at Harvard University on Sunday at the "Crisis on Campus Conference," organized by the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance with ADL partnership. The conclave featured world-renowned speakers like Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, former IDF spokesperson Eylon Levy, former Knesset member Einat Wilf and author Dara Horn. According to our ADL attendees (pictured below), what resonated with the crowd were the firsthand accounts from Jewish students: Noa Horowitz told of classmates who refused to speak to her because of her Jewish and Israeli identity; Shabbos Kestenbaum told of a professor who wouldn’t permit him to join a class due to his identity; and many speakers shared how their free access to the Cambridge campus was denied during the illegal encampments that occupied Harvard's common spaces in the spring. All in all, the students gathered there said that they are more determined than ever to proudly share their Jewish identity, and that they would not allow themselves to be harassed and bullied into silence.

(Source: ADL)

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Georgetown. Georgetown University’s Qatar campus hosted the “Reimagining Palestine” conference over the weekend and featured several speakers with ties to terrorist organizations like Hamas. Keynote speaker Wadah Khanfar is reportedly “identified by many as a Hamas member himself,” who “was named as an early leader of Hamas’s office in Sudan.” Khanfar was also reportedly connected to the al-Aqsa Foundation, which the U.S. government designated “a critical part of Hamas terrorist support infrastructure.” Other conference speakers included Shawan Jabarin, a reported affiliate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Issam Younis, “who in the past supported Hamas’s oppressive rule in Gaza and sat on a panel with Hamas leader and notorious terrorist Yahya Sinwar.”

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CUNY. A report commissioned by New York Governor Kathy Hochul last October found the state’s CUNY system, which spans 25 campuses, must “significantly” update its policies to combat on-campus antisemitism. The report draws on interviews from more than 200 people, identifying that a “small, vocal minority of individuals” are responsible for most antisemitic incidents identified. At the same time, the report author, former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, highlighted “an alarming number of unacceptable antisemitic incidents targeting members of the CUNY community” and the refusal of anti-Israel activists to cooperate with the investigation. The report also detailed recommendations like developing an online portal for discrimination complaints and creating a CUNY center devoted to combating hate. CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said, “We look forward to working on implementing Judge Lippman’s recommendations to redouble our efforts and build on our progress to create a more inclusive campus environment for students, faculty and staff.”

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Indiana. For the fifth Sunday night in a row, protesters gathered near Indiana University’s Sample Gates in Bloomington at exactly 11 PM — an open challenge to the university’s new policy that prohibits on-campus protests between 11 PM and 6 AM. At least 18 people have been formally cited for policy violations, including one professor who was warned that she may face termination if she breaks the policy again. Provost Rahul Shrivastav said “As with any policy, if you're publicly known to be intentionally violating it, you should expect it to be enforced.”

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Wayne State. Wayne County prosecutors have dropped charges against five individuals arrested during anti-Israel protests at Wayne State University’s Detroit campus in Spring, saying their actions “do not rise to the level of criminal behavior.” This follows the recent decision by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to charge 11 people in connection with Spring protests at the University of Michigan. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said, “I want to make it exceedingly clear that this office will not ever tolerate protesters that engage in behavior that is not peaceful or turns violent in any way. But that is not present in these cases."

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Illinois. A Monday post from the Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced “SJP UIUC is no longer recognized by UIUC as an official registered student organization.” The group previously took part in encampments at UIUC in spring, which lasted nearly two weeks.

DEEPER: Earlier this month, UIUC entered into a resolution agreement with the federal government over violations of Title VI of the Civil Right Act.

Reaching the Summit. Our friends at Hillel International, the American Jewish Committee and the American Council on Education hosted a gathering of college and university presidents to discuss on-campus antisemitism earlier this week, bringing together leaders from more than 80 schools, including both public and private schools, community colleges, faith-based institutions, Ivy League colleges and more. We hope all the administrators take back to campus a renewed vigor to combat antisemitism.

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First Nations. At the recent IAC conference in Washington, DC, two Native American leaders – Chief Joseph and Ambassador Dr. Laralyn RiverWind–attended and told Israeli media that they felt a deep affinity with the Jewish people because both are “indigenous people” (Something we very much appreciate, but is sure to raise eyebrows in faculty lounges). “As First Nations people, we see your story as a story of hope and a story of healing. You have, through the resilience of your people, been an inspiration. You love life, you have recovered from generations of trauma, and you're an example to our people that we can still embrace and love life and grasp for healing through the trauma and through the problems and the difficulties that life brings,” they said.

Solidarity Blossoms. Big Bang Theory and Blossom star Mayim Bialik voiced her solidarity with the people of Northern Israel on Monday, particularly the city of Kiryat Bialik, which was recently bombarded by Hezbollah rockets. Bialik explained how the city is named after her great-great-grandfather’s first cousin, Chaim Nachman Bialik, considered the national poet of Israel, whom she called “a Zionist visionary, a gifted poet, and a lover of Israel.” Bialik continued, "Thousands of rockets have been fired upon Israel by Hezbollah over the last year, and the situation in the north is intensifying in terrifying ways,” adding “My heart is with all the innocent citizens of Kiryat Bialik.”

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One Sugar, Hold the Prejudice. In partnership with pro-Israel groups on campuses around the country, the Passages organization has been handing out cups of coffee and engaging students in meaningful conversations in a program called “Brewing Solidarity: Fighting Antisemitism One Cup at a Time.” With coffee donated by Ten Boom Roasters founder David Peters, Passages members are making coffees, handing out “Christians Stand with Israel” shirts and answering student questions. “I have just seen people really be open to hearing about what’s happening with the hostages,” said Gracie Goll, MIT Student and Campus Fellow for Passages. “I had one girl come up and tell me how much it meant to her, and I was able to give her a hug, you can just see it’s making a really big impact.”

(Source: Passages | YouTube)

• Students — how to take action, deal with antisemitism, and organize your community.
• Alumni — how to organize a sign-on letter, answer a fundraising request, or write a letter to a university president.
• Parents — write a letter about commencement, organize a dial day, or get help selecting a college for your student.
• Glossary of Commonly Used Antisemitic Phrases Heard at Protests.
• Campus Antisemitism Report Card — see the grade a college earned in this first-ever report card.
• Report an Antisemitic Incident.
• Are you a student or know one who needs legal help? Contact our Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), run by ADL, Hillel, the Brandeis Center, and Gibson Dunn. Hundreds of incidents have been reported. You are not alone!

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