Fighting Antisemitism on New York Campuses Requires Sound Policies, Not Empty Platitudes

New York — the state that boasts the largest Jewish population in the United States — is also home to some of the most antisemitic universities in the country.

Published earlier this year, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL)  “Campus Antisemitism Report Card” revealed that of the 14 New York-based schools listed, none had received an “A” rating in their ability to provide a safe environment for Jewish students.

In fact, several State University of New York (SUNY’) institutions were marked an “F’,” for failing to blunt the rise of antisemitic activity. Other schools, such as Columbia University and Cornell University, inched towards a passing grade and were categorized as a “D” rated school.

In recent years, the City University of New York (CUNY) has made headlines for its role as academia’s core of anti-Jewish hate.

CUNY professor and department chair Jeffrey Lax noted last year that for the first time, the University will not have Jewish representation among its senior leadership team.

Now, the antisemites embedded among CUNY’s cadre of employees and enrollees are intensifying their efforts to intimidate Jewish students.

For example, earlier this month, a gathering from the school’s Hillel organization was mocked, bullied, and chased into a kosher deli, as masked anti-Israel agitators hurled antisemitic epithets and blocked the restaurant entrance.

That incident is the latest in what amounts to a lengthy and alarming catalog of antisemitic episodes at CUNY.

To quell concerns, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) commissioned a review of “Antisemitism and Antidiscrimination” policies at the University, with the results of the evaluation released last week.

While acknowledging the rise of Jew-hatred at CUNY, the policy suggestions detailed in the report are flawed and filled with progressive undertones, which include providing mandatory training for campus chief diversity officers.

Most troubling, the independent investigation, conducted by ex-New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, concludes that CUNY need not formally embrace and specify “a definition of antisemitism, let alone any specific definition of antisemitism, in order to ensure that it provides its community with an environment safe from antisemitism and discrimination.”

Expanding on the report’s suggestions, Gov. Hochul recommends using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism as merely a “tool” when investigating anti-Jewish incidents on campus.

The policy proposals set forth by Judge Lippman and sanctioned by Gov. Hochul convey an attempt to disentangle CUNY from its eroding reputation as a radical center of antisemitic activity. But their unwillingness to clearly define antisemitism grants left-wing “intellectuals,” which — in CUNY’s case — consists of students and professors, the space to collaborate and escalate their intimidation of Jews while rebranding New York’s universities as major theaters of antisemitism.

One of New York’s lone Democratic Congressmen inclined to advocate on behalf of CUNY’s Jewish students is Ritchie Torres, who, in a post last week, correctly condemned CUNY officials for telling Jewish students not to hold upcoming Rosh Hashanah celebrations at the school.

While pressure placed by the lawmaker ultimately led CUNY’s Baruch College to put out a statement claiming that the allegations were false, the episode underscores the inclination of administrators to align with terrorist sympathizers who continue to rise in the school’s professional and student ranks.

And the leadership at New York-based schools such as CUNY, Columbia, and Cornell do not punish Jew-hating perpetrators when there’s little impetus from state executives directing them to do so.

Among the pro-Hamas protestors (many of whom advocate for a genocide of Israelis and Zionists), many wear masks and have their identities concealed when harassing or assaulting Jewish students.

Over the summer, New York Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed a law making it illegal for anyone over the age of 16 to wear a mask or face covering, with exceptions outlined for health or religious reasons. Unsurprisingly, the Republican-led County was listed as “America’s Safest County” in a US News and World Report ranking published last month.

For her part, Governor Hochul has softened her initial lackluster support for a partial mask ban, and currently seems settled on the position that criminals committing crimes while masked should simply face stiffer penalties.

Furthermore, the absence of a severe response to antisemitism at New York’s schools extends beyond the aesthetic, with Governor Hochul, to date, also opposing levying any financial penalties on the offending institutions.

Cornell University’s Rusell Rickford took a “voluntary leave” of absence last year after a video surfaced in which he proclaimed that the October 7 massacre in Israel was “exhilarating” and “energizing.”

Despite his odious and completely unacceptable comments, Rickford is now back teaching at the school. The Ivy League institution receives $127 million from the state of New York to help fund the four SUNY schools it operates, according to an analysis conducted by The New York Post.

If Rickford had made those comments about any other group, he clearly would have been fired, and never allowed to work in the state again.

Columbia University, an epicenter of antisemitic activism, is also gifted millions of dollars in New York state and city grants. Still, Governor Hochul, along with other liberal policymakers, has shied away from threatening to withhold financial assistance and use it as leverage against schools plagued by antisemitic violence.

It has to be mentioned that the top 10 US campuses with the highest incidents of anti-Israel activism are in states run by a Democratic governor. Moreover, the FBI’s newly released 2023 Hate Crimes Statistics revealed that American Jews are the most targeted of any religious group, with hate crimes against Jews reaching the highest level “ever recorded by the FBI since it began collecting data in 1991.”

It’s time for New York state officials to use their executive powers and reorient New York’s academic establishments to places committed to upholding safety and civic dialogue.

As home to the highest population of Jews in America, New York’s higher education institutions should be beacons in leading the fight against antisemitism, rather than acting as the gravitational pull towards its growth.

Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York.

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