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.