J

ewish organizational 
administrators, faculty and Jewish 
student leaders agree that, though 
they are disturbed by a two antisemitic 
incidents that occurred on small online 
forums as well as an anti-Israel rhetoric 
sprayed on the “MSU Rock,” they are 
encouraged that the incidents were 
reported to campus law enforcement 
authorities by non-Jews. 
On Wednesday, Sept. 15, MSU’s 
Michael and Elaine Serling Institute 
for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel 
released a statement detailing the 
offenses under investigation. 
In one incident, an individual joined 
a biology class group chat using a Nazi 
swastika as a profile picture, claiming 
they study biology to prove that “Jews 
are scum.” Other students in the chat 
denounced those statements, removed 
the perpetrator from the chat, and 
reported the incident to the class 
professor and to a number of campus 
units, including the Serling Institute. 
An individual using the same 
screenname also made antisemitic 
comments in the chatroom of an 
off-campus apartment complex, 

responding to another resident’s 
message with, “Shut the hell up Jew 
boy.” When asked to leave the chat 
by other participants, the perpetrator 
answered, “This is why you don’t trust 
Jews.” 
MSU investigations are trying to 
determine if the individual is a member 
of the MSU community. 
A third incident happened at the 
MSU Rock on Farm Lane, which 
featured an American flag with the 
caption “Never Forget” to honor the 
20th anniversary of the 9-11 terror 
attacks. The word “Israel” was spray 
painted over the American flag and the 
word “never” was painted over. 
The Serling Institute views the use 
of the word Israel as an evocation of 
the conspiracy theory that Israel was 
responsible for the 9-11 attack and is a 
“modern iteration of the centuries-old 
trope that Jews control world events.”
The MSU Department of Police and 
Public Safety was made aware of an 
incident that occurred on Sept.13 in 
an online chat group. A police report 
was initiated, and a police investigator 
was immediately assigned to the case, 

which is ongoing. 
“Investigators are currently 
following up on all available leads and 
are in touch with people who were 
impacted by the incident, and the case 
remains an active police 
investigation,” reads the 
statement released by the 
department. 
As a local, proactive 
measure to curb the 
nationwide rising tide of 
antisemitism on college 
campuses, Serling Institute Executive 
Director Yael Aronoff said she has 
been working with the MSU Office 
of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 
to increase antisemitism awareness 
on campus and would like to see 
information about anti-Jewish bias to 
become standardized in orientations 
for all incoming students. 
This year, as an initiative-
taking approach to counter the 
presence of antisemitism at MSU, 
the Serling Institute will host “The 
Jonathan Netanyahu Symposium on 
Antisemitism” from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 
Friday, Oct. 8. The free online event 

Yael 
Aronoff

OUR COMMUNITY

Antisemitic online interloper is rebuffed.
MSU 
Fights Back

22 | SEPTEMBER 30 • 2021 

This sign 
welcomes 
people to the 
MSU campus.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER