Frieda Schweky
I’d like to apologize to my monthly readers. I normally choose lighter topics for my columns, however the topic of anti-Semitism on American college campuses since October 7th seemed too important not to address. We are all aware that certain educational institutions, colleges, and universities, have turned into breeding grounds for anti-Semitism.
In my opinion, unless my child is interested in a career that absolutely needs a degree, such as to become a doctor, a therapist, or a lawyer, I’d prefer them not to attend college. I think the American standard of sending our kids to college because, that’s what we do, taking on debt or paying exorbitant amounts of money towards an education that may not even lead to a job or amount to anything, is silly and outdated.
Let’s hear what community members think and what they are doing to protect their children.
Anonymous Community Dad
I am 49 years old and have three children. I went to Brooklyn College, got my degree in accounting, and then went to law school and became a lawyer. I certainly believe that a good education is necessary for a rewarding and fulfilling life, but I think it is critically important to understand three things (1) Who is your child? (i.e. how grounded are they? How strong are they mentally?); (2) What is your child looking to obtain/experience from going to college? and (3) What kind of environment will your child be in at the specific college?
My son is a strong-minded, focused, religious, and a hard-working person. He is just finishing up his degree in architecture and real estate at University of Pennsylvania, after spending a year learning in Israel. Interestingly, he actually became more learned and religious during college. He got to meet other religious kids from different backgrounds, which gave him a more well-rounded and healthy perspective on religious Judaism. He spent pretty much all of his free time at the Hillel House and did not enmesh himself in the “college experience.” He was there to get his degree and used his free time to meet other Jewish kids. He was strong enough to leave the house to live on campus for three years and we weren’t really concerned about him being influenced by negative people. That is certainly not the norm and, for a different type of kid, the environment for a child living away from home at any school could be scary and choosing the right school should not be decided lightly.
Whereas years ago, I may have said that all kids should have a four-year college degree, I am not convinced that is still the case. Leaving aside the college environment discussion, in my opinion, not all kids should be automatically going to a regular four-year college program. Some kids might be better off pursuing other paths, such as enrolling in a technical school, or an apprenticeship. It depends on the child, their interests, and their strengths. I believe that each person needs to find their own path – something that they can do to earn a living and stand on their own two feet. That is critical in order to have self-respect, confidence, and, obviously, be able to support yourself and your family.
In terms of the impact of October 7th, some of the top schools in the country, including University of Pennsylvania, have materially hurt their reputations this past year and I feel differently about the benefit of those schools taking into consideration the anti-Israel sentiment that is prevalent at those institutions. I recommend a lot of diligence before deciding where to send one’s child.
Anonymous Community Mom
I have one college kid, one high school senior, and a high school junior. The oldest child is in Brooklyn College studying to be a doctor. For the other two, I am looking at seminaries and Yeshiva University. I am honestly concerned in a post-October 7th world for their safety. Not only am I concerned as a Jewish mother, I think everyone should be concerned that so many non-students are allowed on campus who cause chaos and anarchy with no real repercussions. At this point I believe that colleges are corrupting the youth and the only reason for someone to go to college is if they require it for their desired profession such as to become a lawyer or a doctor.
Anonymous Community Mom
I’m actually a current student in Touro, which I chose for its safe environment. I am a Jewish mother. When Touro decided to become a university, they began accepting outside funding. As a result, they had to accept a wider range of students and also give them certain rights. I believe we need to keep the Jewish institutions we have created as fundamentally Jewish. Additionally, Jewish organizations like Chabad and Hillel on secular campuses need to have a voice and promote our values and provide a good resource for Jewish students.
I’m very pro-education but believe our children don’t need to attend the Ivy League schools. I encourage Jewish students to choose Touro, as I did. Once you have graduated, what is important is your ambition and your work ethic, not how prestigious the school is you attended. I believe we shouldn’t scare parents or children away from going to college altogether, but we should provide students with good alternatives so our community continues to thrive and progress.
Emilie Hedaya
My son Joseph will be entering his fifth year at the Cooper Union School of Architecture in the fall. He’s the only Jewish student in his class. There are just a handful of Jews in the whole Architecture School. The school only accepts about 35 students per year and now, due to drop-outs, only 25 students are in his class. So, they were a tight-knit bunch, unlike at typical colleges.
He was friendly with most of his classmates. These kids have all been to my house for Shabbat more than once. My philosophy with my kids is that my house is always open to friends who want to come or stay over.
On October 9th, Joseph went to school and instantly felt the attitude towards him had changed. The rhetoric towards October 7th was, “What did you expect? Israel had it coming.” He tried to make the point to his peers that if he himself decided to attend the Nova concert on October 7th, that he too would have been senselessly murdered. He challenged them – would they have been ok with that? And, in fact, it seemed they were. This really hit him. These classmates were his close peers, his friends. As the days passed, things only continued to boil. And it got worse.
The school organized a free Palestine rally, and students placed posters all over school promoting it. This violated school policy. They even put pro-Palestine propaganda (which requires approval by several committees) in the windows of the foundation building the week of the rally. This leads one to believe that the students were enabled or aided by faculty. Throughout many of these incidents I emailed the school, trying to make the administration aware of what was happening, hoping they would enforce their own rules. By holding the violators of school policies accountable, there would be less incidents. When the posters didn’t come down, my son decided to fight back by hanging up hostage posters. He put them all over the school in protest. The school told him to take them down and he told them he would if they did, so all the posters came down.
After a while, my son began to get worn down. All the glaring and dirty looks around school was really affecting him. They were even putting things on his desk, which isa violation of school policy. Attending school and working on projects rapidly went from something he loved and enjoyed to something he dreaded.
My son worked at the school printing shop. One day he told me he was going to go to school but he really didn’t want to show up for his shift at the printing shop. I told him the right thing to do is to go. Little did we realize what would happen that day. He went to school and I went about my business. Suddenly, my phone started blowing up with calls and messages asking if Joe was ok. I then received a video of a few other Jewish kids at Cooper Union locking themselves in the library, trying to protect themselves from intimidating pro-Palestinian protestors who had illegally entered the building and were then caught on camera trying to break into the library and chanting loudly. (This video quickly went viral).
In a panic, I called my son to check in. He told me he couldn’t talk. He was trying to figure a way out of the building. At the time he was alone in the printing shop unaware of how much the situation had escalated. Then someone told Joseph, “You better hide, they’re looking for Jewish kids.” The Jewish students in the library called 911 six times asking for help, but no one came to help them. The police were told by someone in the school to stand down (not to take action). Yet the police came to escort the school president out of the building and left the Jewish kids in the school without protection.
Over the next few months, the intimidation continued. There have not been any consequences (to our knowledge) to any students or faculty that have violated the code of conduct. All this was able to happen because the administration and powers-at-be at Cooper Union refused to hold the guilty parties accountable.
The day back after spring break Joseph felt relief due to the installment of security cameras. His voice was completely different that day. He actually sounded happy at school for the first time in months. Unfortunately, the moment the other students returned, the equipment was damaged, covered up, and disconnected. This was a blatant criminal act of vandalizing school property. Those same students demanded the cameras be removed for the ludicrous excuse that they were an “invasion of privacy” and were “hindering their creativity.” The school placated the very individuals that made the cameras necessary in the first place. The cameras were soon permanently removed by the school. There has yet to be seen any accountability or consequences for clear violations of school policies. To be clear, the cameras (allowing my child feeling secure at school) did not last a week.
On Admitted Students Day, the Dean of Admissions was seen wearing a keffiyeh, standing in front of the building with others while they chanted, “Zionists not welcome here.”
Fast forward to May 8th, when a big final project is due for all architecture students in the form of a presentation. (People in the industry were invited to watch and evaluate – it’s really a big deal that the students work towards.) Each student had their turn, Joe was set to go second to last. As soon as the professor called up Joseph, all of the students stood up and walked out. My son was horrified. When he finished, the professor texted the last student to come back in for his turn. Clearly, the professor was complicit in this plan. If this had happened to any other student from a marginalized group, there would have been a price to pay, but of course, there were zero consequences. My son was devastated, he wanted to quit. It was too hard. He did not want to continue to put himself in an environment where he is targeted, ostracized, bullied, and intimidated for another year. He was isolated from all his peers. Faculty for the most part did not care. He felt he had no friends or allies in the school.
Finally, the school said, as if they were doing us a favor, Joseph doesn’t have to come back to campus if it’s too uncomfortable. This was obviously outrageous. This is my son’s college experience which he deserves and worked hard for. I’m not sure what the future holds right now, but Joseph will be attending his final year in person in school. We will not be enabling this kind of bullying. We will hold strong.
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We should all pray for the future of this country, our community, and Israel. An unprecedented amount of applications for aliya, says something about the Jewish spirit. We will not be bullied out of our homeland or our educational institutions. May Hashem keep our students and all of Am Yisrael safe, and bring us salvation!
Until next month,
Frieda Schweky