What is happening on college campuses is morally repugnant, politically stupid, and continues to perpetuate the narrative that elite universities have been hijacked by the far left.
The scenes from the elite pillars of higher education lately do not actually seem to be about the Israel-Hamas War at all. Rather the chaos we are witnessing is due in part to too many in leadership positions acting as mere spectators, instead of behaving as models for their institutions.
At this point, the public does not know how many outside agitators there are in the mix of students, who is behind the funding of these protests, or the propaganda that has been fed on social media.
What we do know, is that as a society, we are failing our children.
In the aftermath of Hamas鈥 attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel鈥檚 response to that terrorist violation, there has been a dramatic rise in antisemitism across the U.S. and the world. This has been especially true on college and university campuses nationwide.
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The stories coming out of the protests at Columbia University in New York have been horrendous. Young men with kippahs have had water thrown at them; protesters burned another Jewish student鈥檚 Israeli flag and then hit him in the face with rocks. There are videos of protestors with Palestinian flags shouting 鈥淗amas we love you鈥 and 鈥淕o back to Poland鈥 鈥 a reference to Nazi death camps there during World War II.
The situation seemed to best be summed up by a statement issued by Rabbi Elie Buechler of the Orthodox Union and the Orthodox Union-Jewish Learning Initiative at Columbia Barnard to its Jewish students:
鈥淲hat we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic. The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University鈥檚 Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students鈥 safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy. It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved. It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus. No one should have to endure this level of hatred, let alone at school.鈥
Columbia University has since moved to remote learning.
While I am not excusing any of the students鈥 behaviors, the blame should go much further, to those entrusted to care and educate our children. This deleterious group includes college administrators and some faculty, as well as parents. They bear responsibility for allowing a mob mentality to take over their places of higher learning, where parents have sent their children for crucial formation.
University administrators and their boards of trustees have a responsibility to keep all their students safe. They should handle the menace that is antisemitism the same way they would have any other threats or harassment toward any members of the student body, faculty or staff, up to and including expulsion and termination.
As of this writing, Columbia University President Nemat Shafik still has her job.
Colleges and universities should be communities where students learn critical thinking 鈥 that most issues are not black and white, and require nuance. This does not appear to be taking place on campuses today.
Many college students put their trust in their faculty. Students want to please them and many try to emulate their instructors and mentors. This makes many students vulnerable to indoctrination by those elders.
But an individual鈥檚 moral compass is originally calibrated at home. That鈥檚 why some responsibility should lie with the parents of the students who are spewing hatred and vitriol. Parents are ultimately responsible for teaching their children how to be decent human beings.
Members of Congress and other elected officials from both political parties, including the House Speaker Mike Johnson, have visited campuses recently. They have denounced the blatant antisemitism and called for control. 鈥淣either Israel nor these Jewish students on this campus will ever stand alone,鈥 Johnson said during his Columbia visit Wednesday.
President Joe Biden has also released statements including this one which read, in part: 鈥淭his blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous 鈥 and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.鈥
These political leaders are doing their part, but their actions and words need to take hold at a wider societal level. We should all be teaching our children that hate has no place here. If America鈥檚 educational leaders can鈥檛 or won鈥檛 share that sentiment, then they should be removed and replaced by shepherds who will.
