Touro University, which describes itself as the largest U.S. higher education system “under Jewish auspices,” announced on Tuesday that it is creating an institute to combat antisemitism in academia.
Dr. Alan Kadish, a physician and president of the university, told JNS that the first initiative of the school’s institute is scheduled to be a teaching fellowship in the summer “to empower professors at other institutions to be able to go back to their institution and teach about antisemitism.”
“We’re going to try to find and award the fellowship and the education to the people who we think can make the most difference,” Kadish said. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of places where we need a difference made.”
The launch coincides with the two-year anniversary of the start of anti-Israel protest encampments that began at Columbia University and soon spread to campuses across the country, Touro said.
Kadish said that many universities have centers of Jewish life or Judaic studies departments, but Touro’s institute is intended to tackle contemporary Jew-hatred.
“This effort is not Jewish studies, which is important and useful,” Kadish told JNS. “This effort is about specifically using academic resources in ways that others haven’t.”Kadish cited research, education and the law as Touro’s three main areas of focus for the institute, which will partner with the National Jewish Advocacy Center, led by Mark Goldfeder, to explore legal approaches to combatting antisemitism.
“It’s become such a terrible problem that we both have to focus internally but also continue to use every method possible to educate people about how antisemitism is extraordinarily dangerous,” Kadish said.
“It will lead to other radical ideas that will help destroy the fabric of a liberal society if we don’t stop this,” he added.
