10 | DECEMBER 23 • 2021
PURELY COMMENTARY
essay
Ohio Governor Takes
Initiative to Protect
Jewish College Students
I
magine sending your
Jewish son or daughter off
to college with high hopes
for intellectual development,
self-discovery and growth
in a healthy environment
because you
believe in the
school and that
its promotion
of diversity
and inclusion
will ensure a
safe space for
young people.
Only then do you learn that
Jewish students are being
made to feel so insecure that
they need to hide their Jewish
identity.
Statistics on campus
antisemitism cannot be
ignored.
According to a fall survey
by the American Jewish
Committee (the State of
Antisemitism in America
2021), close to seven out of
every 10 Jewish students on
campus feel unsafe, and 50
percent hide their Jewish
identity.
The ADL-Hillel Campus
Antisemitism Study: 2021
supports these findings: 43
percent of Jewish students
report having personally
experienced or witnessed
antisemitic activities
on campus. For those
experiencing in-person
offensive comments or
slurs, 79 percent say it
happened more than once.
These percentages are likely
low, as 75 percent of those
experiencing antisemitism
say they did not report it.
If you think this is
outlier data, the overall
situation for Jews in this
country, regardless of age, is
shockingly bad and getting
worse. The New York City
Police Department has just
reported a 50 percent spike in
antisemitic hate crimes so far
in 2021.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine
has decided to address
on-campus antisemitism
in his state. He reached out
directly to 111 presidents of
colleges and universities, and
publicly suggested a series
of specific recommendations
to them on what to do,
thus creating visible public
pressure on the colleges
and universities to actually
follow through with concrete
actions.
DeWine’s suggestions are
far-reaching and encompass
every key constituency to
effect positive change on this
problem. They include:
• Identifying and
contacting the Jewish
community in each college
location to work with the
institution on specific plans
to ensure a safe environment,
online and off.
• Directly reaching the
highest-ranking officer at
each institution to secure
their personal commitment
to address the scourge of
Jew-hatred as a priority and
to speak out publicly against
it, while urging only free,
open, civil and respectful
debate from all on-campus
communities.
• Contacting campus
chiefs of police and public
safety directors to work with
the Jewish communities
and coordinate with local
and state law enforcement
to develop and refine
specific plans to increase
safety, protect the Jewish
community, and work to
ensure that services and other
celebrations of Jewish life are
safe and uninterrupted.
These recommended steps
can and should be a model
for every other governor to
follow in every state across
the union. The safety and
well-being of our Jewish
students in colleges across
America require nothing less
than forceful action against
surging Jew-hatred. Some
may ask, “Why are Jewish
students being singled out
for special protections or
given a higher priority than
others? Won’t this ostensible
‘preference’ present political
challenges for governors?”
It is true that too many on
campus today are subjected
to derision, intimidation,
hate speech or even violence
due to their race, religion,
political beliefs or other
personal preferences.
Colleges have started to take
steps to address some of these
through increased and more
focused policing as well as
through diversity, equity and
inclusion (DEI) programs.
Too often on campus,
hostility and intimidation of
Jewish students are related to
their support of Israel. This
is excused as a free speech
issue, a political matter. Yet
no one would excuse hostility
toward any group of students
because of actions or policies
of nations they come from or
support.
Jew-hatred is not limited to
universities. The FBI’s 2020
statistics show that of all hate
crimes in America, targeting
Jews comprised 57.5 percent,
far more than people of any
other religious group.
DeWine’s actions represent
an important step in the
equal treatment of Jews on
campus and are consistent
with how other minorities
are protected. His actions
provide a model framework
for all governors.
Jewish civil rights,
especially for our Jewish
youth, deserve the support
of all those who really care
about equality, inclusion and
a safe learning environment
on campus.
Tony Katz is the founder of the
Confronting Anti-Semitism Network
(CAN) in South Florida, Atlanta, New
York City/Long Island, Boston and
Indianapolis.
Tony Katz
jns.org