For This Yale Alumnus, My Alma Mater Is Forever Tarnished

For my family who arrived in America as refugees from Iran, nothing was more important than academic achievement.  

You can imagine how much pride my parents felt when they watched my Yale graduation in a torrential downpour in 2003. 

It wasn’t easy. I am not talking about getting into the Ivy League institution or keeping up with the rigorous academic demands once there.     

Even when I first stepped foot on the Yale campus in 1999, it was not easy being a proud Jew.  During my time at Yale, the world faced the tumult of Bush v. Gore, 9/11, the Second Intifada, and the Iraq War. 

Back then, anti-Americanism and antisemitism were on the rise at Yale and at other college campuses.  But these fringe hate-filled ideologies lurked in dark shadows.  Arab student groups held early pro-BDS lectures and events to spread lies about Israeli “apartheid.”  Anti-Iraq war rallies were co-opted by Palestinian speakers.  Revisionist Yale Middle East professors and fellows (who invariably were funded by foreign sources) pawned off misinformation as historical facts. I even watched hate speech receive a standing ovation when poet Amiri Baraka visited Yale’s campus after 9/11 to share his poem “Somebody Blew Up America” (you guessed it, it was the Jews). 

But despite all this, the trade-off was worth it.  All the hard work and sacrifices to earn admission to Yale were worth the (then subtle) anti-Americanism and antisemitism that a Jewish student would face.  It was worth it because intellectual integrity still existed back then.  Students read books, valued facts, and engaged in civil discourse.  There were sober adults in academia, university leadership, government and media to guide these young impressionable minds. 

That is no longer the case.

What we are seeing at Yale and other so-called “elite” or Ivy League universities has brought shame to American society. Not unlike the early days of the Nazi takeover of Europe, Jews have been assaulted, threatened, dehumanized, targeted physically, and even barred from moving freely.  

Anti-Israel protests at Yale became violent this past weekend because administrators let it happen. Hundreds of protesters flooded the main campus, pitched dozens of tents, blocked Yale’s main dining hall, chanted for the annihilation of Israel and denounced America.  A Jewish student Sahar Tartak was jabbed in the eye by pro-Hamas protesters and hospitalized.  On Friday night, the mob cheered in English and Arabic as students ripped down the American flag in front of a memorial for fallen soldiers and tried to burn it.  Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters recited in unison the latest Hamas and jihadist chants, demanding the elimination of Israel from the earth and to “globalize” the jihadist 10/7 intifada.  What had been relegated to the dark fringes is now the mainstream cause célèbre.  Absent from those chants is any recognition of the evil of Hamas terrorists or the humanity of Israel’s residents.

What had been relegated to the dark fringes is now the mainstream cause célèbre.  Absent from those chants is any recognition of the evil of Hamas terrorists or the humanity of Israel’s residents.

Like progressive sheep being led to their own slaughter by anti-progressive butchers, the young people we expect to lead America one day are being radicalized to hate our own country.  Meanwhile, the only meaningful experience they are receiving at Yale is in the practice of terrorizing Jewish students in Sterling Library and committing acts of anarchy on Beinecke Plaza.  That dynamic must change now.

Starting today, every Yale alumnus and donor that truly values our school’s motto of “light and truth” should demand that Yale hold accountable any student that violates the law or university regulations, including, where appropriate in the case of violence, arrests and expulsions.  Expelling a few of the most violent radical extremists would set a powerful example for the rest of the protesters. They are adults and must be held accountable if they break the law.  Yale should also discipline and terminate, where appropriate, faculty members who have praised terrorism and advocated for the use of violence. Yale should suspend the receipt of all problematic foreign funding, especially from Qatar.  Lawsuits should be prosecuted to the full extent of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and even stronger legislation should be enacted federally. Finally, Yale should recommit itself, in both word and deed, to keeping its Jewish students safe from the resurgence of the inferno that began with book burning on college campuses and ended with Jew burning in crematoria.

Sam Yebri, a 2003 alumnus of Yale University, is a civic and Jewish community leader in Los Angeles.