14 | DECEMBER 5 • 2024 J
N

J

ewish student leaders at the 
University of Michigan hope 
that the divisive and hostile 
climate on campus that has taken 
hold since Oct. 7, 2023, may be com-
ing to an end thanks to changes com-
ing to the school’s Central Student 
Government. 
A schoolwide election that ousted 
a coalition of mostly anti-Israel stu-
dent organization leaders occurred 
the same week when anti-Israel agi-
tators disrupted a lecture about Black 
and Jewish relations during the civil 
rights movement sponsored by the 
University’s Frankel Center for Judaic 
Studies. 
On Nov. 19, San Francisco State 
University professor and author Marc 
Dollinger was invited to give a guest 

lecture and discuss his 2018 book, 
Black Power, Jewish Politics. The book 
examines Jewish involvement in the 
civil rights movement and how their 
relationships fostered the strength-
ening of Black and Jewish identities 
in later decades. About 50 students 
attended, some of them to fulfill a 
requirement in a Jewish history class. 
Dollinger’s talk did not touch upon 
Israel or the current war. 
Halfway through the talk, about 10 
masked anti-Israel agitators entered 
the room. A video of the incident 
that is circulating on social media 
begins with a young man with curly 
hair, who seemed at first confused 
about what to say. He then declared 
that Zionism is the world’s most rac-
ist ideology. A faculty member at the 

front of the room invited them all 
to have a seat and learn. Instead, the 
man said, “We don’t do dialogue with 
Zionists.” 
Another masked woman, look-
ing at her phone, began leading the 
chants of “Dollinger, you can’t hide; 
Zionism is a crime” and “
Anti-Black 
and settler, too; Zionist, Zionist, we 
see you.” 
After about 10 minutes of 
chanting, an unnamed professor 
approached them and told them that 
“they are helping no one and are only 
making things worse.” 
Others off camera can be heard 
yelling at the agitators that Dollinger 
is not hiding but rather they were the 
ones concealing their identity with 
masks. Eventually, they left and the 
SFSU Judaic Studies professor was 
able to complete his lecture. 
The Frankel Center for Judaic 
Studies declined to comment on the 
incident. 
The JN also reached out to stu-
dents who attended the lecture, but 
none gave comment citing fears 
of social, academic or professional 
repercussions. 
Dan Viderman, president of 
Students Supporting 
Israel at the U-M, was 
surprised that it was dis-
rupted by agitators. 
“This was an event 
that was not related 
to Zionism whatso-
ever,” Viderman, who 
was not at the lecture, said. “It was 
about promoting and uplifting the 
African American community and 
detailed how the Jewish and African 
American communities were allied 
during the civil rights movement.” 
Viderman had just returned from 
Washington, D.C., where he attended 
a conference for the American Israel 
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
“
At the conference, I learned we 
are not alone in facing anti-Israel 
hate,” Viderman said. “Everyone at 
AIPAC understands that a battle is 
being fought on America’s college 
campuses. We will not back down. 
We will continue to support Israel, 

but we will do it in a way that does 
not incite hatred, anger and violence 
the way that pro-Palestinian students 
conduct themselves.” 

UNIVERSITY TO INVESTIGATE
U-M Director of Public Affairs Kay 
Jarvis said the university is investi-
gating this to see if the incident goes 
against its code of conduct. 
Jarvis in a public statement said: 
“Shouting down speakers for any 
reason is unacceptable at the U-M. 
It violates our academic mission and 
our commitment to free speech and 
diversity of thought. Doing so in a 
way that, in this case, targeted a per-
son because of their Jewish identity 
is particularly abhorrent and will not 
be tolerated.” 
Jarvis continued: “The university 
condemns all forms of discrimina-
tion, racism and bias in the strongest 
possible terms. The actions of the 
individuals who interrupted this 
event are a clear instance of antisem-
itism. The university is working to 
identify the perpetrators so they can 
be held accountable.” 
The university has been under 
much scrutiny in its handling of 
both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim or 
anti-Palestinian activities on campus 
in the last 14 months. 

CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER 
SCRUTINY AT U-M
On June 17, 2024, the U.S. 
Department of Education Office of 
Civil Rights issued an 11-page letter 
of understanding to the University’s 
General Counsel stating its OCR 
office had received and reviewed doc-
umentation of 75 reports of alleged 
discrimination or harassment based 
on shared ancestry that were reported 
during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 
school years, up to February 2024. 
OCR identified concerns regarding 
the effectiveness of the university’s 
responses, as required by Title VI. 
According to the letter, U-M 
became one of the first higher educa-
tion institutions to come into agree-
ment with the DOE that have been 
under scrutiny based on reports of 

U-M’s Hostile 
Climate May Be 
Coming to an End 

Dan 
Viderman

Changes coming to Central Student 
Government make students hopeful, 
despite recent disruptions.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY
A screenshot of a 
video circulating of 
masked anti-Israel 
agitators’ disruption 
of the lecture about 
Black and Jewish 
relations during the 
civil rights movement. 

