Campus Antisemitism
“Unless we eliminate the root cause of campus antisemitism, a change in leadership will act as a band-aid,” Brandy Shufutinsky, of FDD, told JNS.
Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin will serve as a point of contact for Jewish students, advise university leaders on combating antisemitism and help oversee compliance with Columbia’s agreement with the Trump administration.
The tenured Arabic professor alleges that the public university violated her rights over a viral video she says was taken out of context.
The four students filed an amended federal lawsuit the same day, arguing Florida International University violated their First Amendment rights by punishing “private, off-campus speech.”
“When someone uses the N-word on campus, no one thinks about free speech. No one talks about, ‘Let’s understand what they’re thinking. Let’s have a discussion,’” Rep. Randy Fine said. “But somehow when it came to Jews, everyone wanted to rediscover the idea of free speech.”
“Leadership should be responding with moral clarity, not suggesting that the act of teaching about the Holocaust has somehow ‘missed the mark,’” said Kurt Schwartz, CEO of CAMERA.
Katie Lawson, a university spokeswoman, told JNS that it was the “first time in more than six years that this authority was exercised.”
“We don’t need it. We need to teach real, honest history,” Sonja Shaw, school board president of Chino Valley Unified School District, told JNS.
“It’s difficult to stand among ancient stones and not recognize the power of a people maintaining a connection to places that have shaped their story for thousands of years,” said one participant.
The Education and Workforce Committee will mark up 11 bills, including measures that would require institutions receiving federal funds to strengthen responses to antisemitism complaints.
“The story of resilience is the story of our people,” Israel’s U.S. ambassador said at the launch of Resilience on Campus, a new program seeking to equip students with the emotional tools to navigate hostility, isolation and identity-based challenges.
