Princeton Alumni Urge School to Help Jewish Students Feel Safe

2023-11-21 02:59

More than 1,600 Princeton University alumni, students and faculty are urging school leaders to take steps to ensure

More than 1,600 Princeton University alumni, students and faculty are urging school leaders to take steps to ensure the university doesn’t become a “hotbed of antisemitism” following protests on campus that some students said implied violence toward Jews.

The letter, sent Monday to Princeton administrators and signed by alumni, including Mitchell Julis, co-chairman of Canyon Partners, and Leon Kalvaria, chairman of Citigroup’s institutional clients group, was prompted by two rallies and “the on-campus environment.”

Protestors called for an “intifada from Princeton to Gaza” and Jewish students said they were told by protestors “you are committing genocide,” according to the letter.

College campuses have been roiled by protests and tensions since Hamas, which the US and European Union designate a terrorist group, attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Alumni and students have criticized leadership at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia over incidents of antisemitism. Each of the schools has created antisemitism task forces, which the alumni group at Princeton is also seeking.

A Princeton spokesperson didn’t provide immediate comment. Princeton president Christopher Eisgruber addressed the Hamas attack last month, calling it “among the most atrocious of terrorist acts.”

Last week, the Education Department opened complaints for possible discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics at Columbia, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College, Cooper Union and Lafayette College. Five of them allege antisemitic harassment and two allege anti-Muslim harassment, according to the Education Department.

More than half of Jewish US college students say they feel unsafe on their campus since the Hamas attack, according to a poll released Monday by Hillel International.

The Princeton alumni were contacted by students who felt physically unsafe and that the response wasn’t consistent with how other groups are treated and supported by the university, said Jacob Katz, a 2023 graduate and a co-author of the letter, who served in the Israel Defense Forces before enrolling at Princeton.