SLC’s Disgraceful Silence

The humanitarian crisis unfolding in Israel at the hands of Hamas has exposed just how deep and dangerous antisemitism is now on today’s college and university campuses. Let there be no misunderstanding; the unending statements about inclusivity and love on the part of diversity, equity, and inclusion offices are anything but genuine and actually welcoming. They are supportive only if one falls into line with their ideology and ideas and one such value is maintaining an antisemitic view of the world.

For many, Jews are considered a privileged group that can and should be knocked down; the obscene silence and non-responses to the attack on Israel of so many schools stands as clear proof that Jews are not supported on campuses nationwide whatsoever.

At Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where I teach, 30 percent of the undergraduates are Jewish, placing the school in the number seven spot nationally for having a large Jewish population. Over the past four days, I have been in communication with numerous students, trying to offer support and perspective to them in light of the ongoing horrors that are unfolding in Israel. The College has been totally silent. No administrator has reached out to me or sent a single note to faculty or students offering any form of support to help our community members process the trauma of seeing fellow Jews slaughtered, hunted down, raped, burned, tortured and kidnapped.

Social media has vividly captured horrors and atrocities committed against the Jewish people by Hamas and over 900 Israelis—whole families and children specifically—have been murdered with thousands injured, and that total will undoubtedly climb. This is the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust and even if the school does not want to denounce terrorism and murder and speak the truth, Sarah Lawrence could at least offer support and various services to the many students who are struggling, scared and worried. But the College has opted do absolutely nothing; this inaction was an explicit political choice.

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and released their decision on June 29 of 2023, the College released a statement that same day declaring that they were committed to diversity and “to the importance of a diverse community and to a holistic admissions process.”

In this case the College has had ample time to prepare a statement, but 72 hours have passed and they still have nothing to say about Hamas and Israel. The College has no problem releasing statements in support of political causes that it happens to like and offering support to students from Black Lives Matter to Stop Asian Hate. But it obviously feels differently when it comes to Jewish community members and Israel even when innocent Jews have been massacred by a terrorist group.

To put this into full context, on August 31 as school was opening this fall, some students were impacted coming to campus because of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Idalia hitting Florida. The College’s Vice President and Dean of Students promptly emailed the school’s students stating that, “I am reaching out to check-in and offer our support as Hurricane Idalia impacts areas you or a loved one may call home.” He then continued to state, “Please know we are here to support you …the Health & Wellness Center’s Counseling and Psychological Services staff are prepared to prioritize your appointment should you wish to talk about these challenging times.”

This reaction and support was offered because of a storm; yet now that entire families of Israeli Jews have been hunted down like in Nazi Germany and young women have been raped and murdered and children have been kidnapped, decapitated and taken into Gaza, the school offered absolutely no comment or support whatsoever.

Regrettably, the silence over supporting Jews in a time of real need extends well beyond Sarah Lawrence College. At Stanford, the University has regularly made statements on climate change, Trump executive orders, and issues of racism but has not criticized students who have hung painted bedsheets red with incitements to genocide against Israeli Jews on dorms, community centers, and in very public places. Students at Northwestern have argued that Hamas’ barbarism is justified and Israel is not “the aggrieved party” while Columbia students justified the violence due to Israel’s “colonial system.” The list keeps growing, with NYUstudents “offering “unwavering and absolute solidarity with Palestinians in their resistance” to University of Virginia students claiming that Hamas brutality makes them “hopeful for the future of Palestine” and the indiscriminate murder of Jews is “a step towards a free Palestine.” Again, none of these schools have responded to these ridiculous, antisemitic statements and actions.

At Harvard, over 30 Harvard student organizations released a statement stating that they were holding Israel “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ mass slaughter and “all unfolding violence.” The University remained silent for three full days. In response, former President Lawrence Summers wrote that, “In nearly 50 years of @Harvard affiliation, I have never been as disillusioned and alienated as I am today.” He proclaimed that “The silence from Harvard’s leadership, so far, coupled with a vocal and widely reported student groups’ statement blaming Israel solely, has allowed Harvard to appear at best neutral towards acts of terror against the Jewish state of Israel.” Summers correctly argued that “Harvard is being defined by the morally unconscionable statement apparently coming from two dozen student groups blaming all the violence on Israel.”

At Harvard, more than 30 student organizations released a statement stating that they were holding Israel “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ mass slaughter and “all unfolding violence.” The University remained silent for three full days.

Presumably as a reaction to Summers, Harvard just released a statement but it was disturbingly neutral and did not speak the truth about Hamas as a terrorist organization or correct the misguided students; for an institution whose very motto is “truth,” this is no justification for Harvard’s position here.

While I question whether or not colleges and universities should issue political statements at all, the fact is that schools regularly take political positions. Thus, not issuing statements in support of students whose brethren have been massacred in a coordinated terror plot is sickening. There is no “both sides” here; Hamas engaged unprovoked and unprecedented terrorist attack and Israel has a right to defend itself and protect is citizens.

Colleges and universities could take the weak position, avoid holding Hamas accountable, and follow Harvard’s lack of moral clarity by simply offering to help all students and offer services and support to all in these trying times; but even taking steps that state that Jewish students are suffering and could use help seems impossible and undesirable. When the dust settles, the Jewish community must take a long and hard look at our nation’s colleges and universities and realize that so many have supported ideologies that are dangerous, exclusive, and seek to harm others. Jews must demand accountability and actual inclusion and recognition that colleges and universities are the spaces where we search for truth even when it is uncomfortable and we cannot whitewash the truth as is being done with Hamas at this very moment.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.