Fight Antisemitism, Not DEI

It’s time to call out the trend of American conservatives weaponizing our fight against antisemitism for their own reactionary agenda. Good for the Jews? Not so much.

I am referring to the Education Department hearing in which the Presidents of Harvard, MIT and UPenn (my alma mater) were grilled by lawmakers about rising antisemitism on their campuses.

Let me state from the start that I agree that some university leaders failed to adequately respond to Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks, and I also agree that some faculty members promoted antisemitism and justified terrorism. As a Jewish person with family in Israel, these are very serious concerns for me. As antisemitism and Islamophobia are real and serious problems on many campuses and must be proactively and meaningfully addressed for the safety of our students.

However, I’m not convinced that “holding campus leaders accountable” for antisemitism is the real agenda behind these hearings and other recent attacks on higher education. Conservatives are always quick to identify a familiar culprit for every perceived problem on campus: DEI programs and “the woke-progressive mindset” they supposedly engender.

DEI programs are crucial for providing equal opportunities for ALL!

If you care about making Jewish students and/or team members safer, contact me and let’s work together to integrate issues of anti-Jewish bias into your DEI efforts.

Image description: Claudine Gay of Harvard University, Elizabeth Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology testified at a House hearing, defending how they are working to combat antisemitism on their campuses. Image credit: https://www.nbcnews.com/video/college-presidents-defend-responses-to-campus-antisemitism-199446597914