Jewish high schools demanding plans from colleges to keep students safe

Two New Jersey Jewish high schools have said they won't allow colleges to recruit their students — citing soaring antisemitism on university campuses — until they are presented with concrete plans for keeping their graduates safe. Others may soon follow.

Leaders of Torah Academy of Bergen County and of Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls, both in Teaneck, recently released statements pointing to rising antisemitism on campuses placing Jewish students at risk and asserting that college leaders need to protect students better. A third New Jersey high school said it is considering a similar plan.

"Before college representatives can enter our building, they must bring a statement from their university leadership detailing their plans to protect and maintain the safety and security" of our students, said the written statement by Rabbi Shlomo Stochel, head of school at Torah Academy of Bergen County, which has 275 students.

"The conditions for Jewish students on many college campuses is intolerable," he wrote. "We are carefully monitoring the statements that universities have (or have not) issued, scrutinizing actions that college administrators have taken and hearing directly from our alumni about the discrimination they are currently experiencing."

CB Neugroschl, the head of school at Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck, sent an email to the school's 350 families last Friday in which she said, "We hope that our stance might encourage universities to address the severity of the current situation more appropriately."

"How can we promote colleges and universities that are not actively and appropriately protecting our students and our values?" she asked rhetorically in an interview.

The Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston also sent a letter to its parents, asserting that it is now "reevaluating its relationships with college admissions officers" because of the toxic atmosphere on campuses.

"We have watched with horror as students across the country have come under threat: from Cornell to Cooper Union, from Tulane to Columbia," wrote Eliezer Rubin, head of school.

The latest move is that some 30 modern Orthodox high schools from around North America have said they are creating a committee of high school principals to meet with college leaders to demand changes that ensure the physical safety of Jewish students, including increased security and requiring diversity training that incorporates antisemitism.

The statements come amid an increasingly hostile environment for Jewish students around the country. Students have seen a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. Antisemitic incidents have risen nearly 400% since the terrorist attack in Israel compared with the same period last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights group that tracks hate incidents.

The White House recently announced a new plan to fight anti-Jewish hate on campus, including a partnership between the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and campus law enforcement to monitor online hate.

President Joe Biden has also denounced antisemitic messages being spread on campuses, in a statement condemning students and groups that have praised Hamas' attack on Israel or called for its destruction.

In New Jersey, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said state and federal laws require colleges and public schools to report incidents of bias and harassment.

"It's critical that our educational institutions respond immediately — and in a manner consistent with their legal obligations — when bias incidents occur," Platkin said in a joint statement released with Sundeep Iyer, director of the Division on Civil Rights. "It is incumbent on our schools to promptly address the harassment and make clear in unequivocal terms to members of the school community that they denounce bias-based conduct."

Rutgers University

Jewish students at Rutgers University have complained about an increase in antisemitism and hostility on campus.

Two weeks ago, someone posted in the online forum Yik Yak: "Palestinian protestors there is an Israeli at AEPI [a Jewish fraternity] go kill him."

Megan Schumann, a Rutgers spokesperson, confirmed that a Rutgers student was charged in connection with the threat after a Rutgers University Police Department investigation.

"Matthew Skorny, 19, was charged with bias intimidation, terroristic threats, and false public alarm," she said.

Lisa Harris Glass, chief executive officer of Rutgers Hillel, said there were other incidents that followed. Several days later, a carload of people outside of the AEPI house "threw eggs at them as they walked into the house. One was hit with eggs," Glass said, adding that antisemitic vulgarities were yelled at the students.

Another incident took place the next day.

"The Attorney General’s Office and the [Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office] also were notified and are aware of an investigation into toy bullets and an empty canister located outside of Rutgers Hillel on College Avenue on Saturday, Oct. 28," Schumann said. "The plastic bullets were determined to be elements of a Halloween costume and not maliciously placed onto the property. The empty canister was determined to be non-hazardous."

But Glass, who works at the Hillel building — where Jewish events for students take place on a daily basis — pointed out that the placement of the threatening items, which included a gas cannister, was "not a coincidence."

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Saturday night, students at the Chabad dorm, a Jewish dormitory at Rutgers, reported that people outside were screaming, "Free Palestine and [expletive] the Jews," said Glass.

Schumann said Rutgers police responded to a call at the Chabad House, where they "engaged with a large group taking a photo on the street. No incident report was created, and there is no indication the group was chanting or shouting."

Schumann said police on campus are "closely monitoring social media and collaborating with multiple law enforcement agencies (including the FBI, MCPO, the Attorney General’s Office and Homeland Security) to ensure that there is no imminent threat to the safety of the Rutgers community."

The university has increased patrols and security specifically in areas where there are religious facilities, Schumann said. "Additionally, the Rutgers University Police Department remains informed of any planned events on campus so that sufficient personnel and security are available to ensure a safe environment."

"Jewish people on campus, not just students, but adults, are frightened," Glass said. "They are encountering this hate even in places we wouldn't expect to find those things, even in extracurricular places."

"This war is playing out on college campuses. We are trying to be there for all of our students. We offer support in many different ways," Glass said, adding that Hillel is offering counseling, social events and fundraisers.

Incidents occurring nationwide

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, in a virtual forum on antisemitism held Wednesday on Zoom, said "The harassment of Jewish students on college campuses is through the roof. We saw visibly Jewish students at Harvard University being confronted and assaulted by pro-Palestinian students."

There have also been incidents at an array of schools around the country, including Cooper Union, Columbia, Tulane and Drexel.

"The question becomes: why is this happening?" he said. "The pro-Hamas movement on campus is so revolting. It elevates the movement that massacres Jewish babies."

Greenblatt suggested that families on campus visits ask what school leaders are doing to stand up to antisemitism, and if there's a resource center in case of bias incidents.

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Parents of Jewish college students are worried.

A new Facebook group called Mothers Against College Antisemitism swelled to nearly 40,000 members in the week it was created. Several mothers in the group said they are telling potential colleges, "We are only looking at schools that are safe for Jewish students and that will condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization."

The group compiled a list of colleges where students have encountered numerous antisemitic threats. Rutgers is on that list.

Most recently, a Cornell University student was arrested and charged with online threats against Jewish students, the Department of Justice said.

Patrick Dai was arrested after making a series of threats, including one that he would "bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig Jews." Jewish students on campus were advised not to use the kosher dining hall because of the threats.

Earlier, a Cornell professor, Russell Rickford, praised the Hamas attack on civilians in Israel, calling it "exhilarating" and "energizing." He is now on a leave of absence.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Plan for Jewish college safety must be shown to recruits at NJ schools