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Michigan. Security cameras at the University of Michigan’s Jewish Resource Center (JRC) captured a man repeatedly kicking the front door while someone screamed antisemitic slurs, including “F*** Jews,” before fleeing the scene. Others in the group appeared to halfheartedly intervene (“Jake, don’t do it!”) but the damage, and the footage, were done. The Center has labeled it a clear act of antisemitism.
ADL Michigan responded quickly to the incident, calling it “a painful reminder of the hate that persists toward the Jewish community.” Police are investigating. Meanwhile, Jewish students are still standing strong, proven by the hundreds who marched across campus
just days later in a powerful show of resilience.
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Screenshot of individual kicking at UM JRC Door. (Source: Instagram/@letsdosomething_oc) |
DEEPER: Getting ready to consider colleges? One helpful resource is ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card, which assesses how 135 schools (including Michigan) are addressing antisemitism.
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Pennsylvania. A new anonymous website, Reverse Canary Mission, is targeting academics it claims support “ethnic cleansing,” Duquesne University law professor Rona Kaufman and University of Pittsburgh scholar Jennifer Murtazashvili were among several scholars listed
on the site that is targeting individuals it deems “pro-Israel.” The site claims to expose those who “advocate for the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Palestinian people,” but those listed say they’re being harassed simply for supporting Israel’s right to exist or signing letters countering false genocide accusations. Kaufman, who helped author the “Scholars of Truth about Genocide” letter, dismissed the listing, saying, “I am defining anti-Zionism as a hate movement that spreads vicious libel against the Jewish people.” Both professors wear their inclusion as a badge of honor and say they’re not backing down.
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Cornell. Lively days at Cornell University, where a BDS resolution somehow managing to blame labor disputes on “Zionist interests,” is getting closer to being passed by the Cornell University Graduate Student Union. Dues in that union are mandatory for all members. David Rubinstein, a Cornell Ph.D. candidate at Cornell, said that the union has made threats to fire students in the union who refuse to pay them. Also at Cornell, the chapter of SJP has
come off its suspension, which had been handed down by the school after the group disrupted a ‘Pathways for Peace’ event that included U.S., Israeli and Palestinian dignitaries.
DEEPER: On the plus side of the Cornell ledger, the city of Ithaca has given final approval to build a sizeable home-base building for Cornell’s Grinspoon Hillel organization.
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Kansas. The community at the University of Kansas celebrated the opening of what is being called “the first building” just for Jewish students in the state of Kansas. Hundreds were on hand for the ceremony for the Chabad Center for Jewish Life. Chabad Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel described the new building as “a place of warmth, meaning, and belonging.” Among the features of the center are a dining hall and library, as well as a
serenity garden named for Sarah Milgrim, a KU alum who was killed earlier this year in the attack at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington D.C.
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Chabad @ KU grand opening event. (Source: KCTV5 video) |
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Maryland. Tensions flared at the University of Maryland (UMD) when Students Supporting Israel (SSI) hosted three IDF soldiers to speak about their combat experience in Gaza. The event drew backlash
from anti-Israel student groups, with protesters chanting outside and demanding the university ban “war criminals.” Four students were detained, including two student journalists from Al-Hikmah, the campus Muslim newspaper, for refusing to move to a designated protest zone. The event had sparked petitions, protests and accusations of “genocide,” with SJP and allied groups calling the soldiers’ presence a threat to Arab students. SSI called the protest “disrespectful and pointless.” The university maintains that the event followed all policies, but this latest incident shows how even civil discourse about Israel is being met with disruption,
false accusations and attempts to shut it down entirely.
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Syracuse. At a Washington D.C. panel hosted by Alums for Campus Fairness, Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud suggested that anti-Israel protests after 10/7 were “encouraged from Iran,” echoing intel from the former U.S. Director of National Intelligence. While his fellow panelists from Vanderbilt and WashU
speculated about outside agitators, Syverud was the only one to name names, calling out Iran - the largest state sponsor of terrorism - directly. Reflecting on his school’s 16-day encampment, he noted few participants were SU students and said many wore masks to “avoid accountability.” Syverud went on to tell the crowd he believed that campus antisemitism is alive and well and warned that many university leaders are still “in denial” about it.
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Israeli-U.S. Academic Partnerships. NYC Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani announced that if elected, he will reassess the joint NYC campus of the Technion Institute and Cornell University,
aka Cornell Tech. Mamdani stated clearly that he was examining this through “the lens of BDS,” arguing that “an Israeli institution involved in developing weapons for the IDF should not receive city benefits or funding,” and vowed to review whether the partnership “aligns with the city’s values and human rights principles.” |
