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Nonprofit Looks to Fight
Antisemitism on Campus
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
L izzy McNeill graduated from Temple
University in 2017 and, during her time
there, she felt “a lot of hostility toward Israel-
supporting students” from her peers, she said.

She sensed that she couldn’t use the word Zionist
or wear her Israel Defense Forces patch on her
backpack without hearing antisemitic comments.

Pro-Palestine activists would outright tell her that
she didn’t deserve an opinion due to her “white
privilege.” The experience motivated McNeill, whose mother
is Jewish, to make aliyah and join the IDF. After two
years of service, she’s back in the United States for at
least part of the year, and she’s trying to get her old
school to work with her on issues of antisemitism on
campus. McNeill is a project manager for the nonprofit
Zachor Legal Institute, a Delaware-based organi-
zation serving as a legal resource for Jewish stu-
dents dealing with such issues. The Temple alum
is attempting to develop relationships with Jewish
leaders and students on Temple’s campus and other
area campuses.

But so far, the attempt is just that. The institute
has worked with students at other schools, but not
yet in the Philadelphia region.

“We’re continuing to reach out to students,”
McNeill said. “We’re always a resource. We’re
always available.”
Campus antisemitism is a prominent issue. In
October, the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel
International released a report that said one in
three Jewish college students experienced antisem-
itism in the past year.

And in January, a story broke about a Temple
rower whose roommate allegedly sent her a screen-
shot of a Snapchat saying, “I hate Jews.” The stu-
dent, Sasha Westrick, transferred from Temple
after finding the university’s response, of changing
Lizzy McNeill on her graduation day from Temple
University in 2017
Courtesy of Lizzy McNeill
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her room and finding her roommate
guilty, to be both slow and insubstan-
tial. The school also did not reveal the
roommate’s punishment to Westrick
and her mother.

McNeill spoke with Westrick’s
mother after the incident, and it moti-
vated her to try and work with her old
school. “It’s the kind of thing that happened
when I was there,” she said. “We would
love to work with Temple. That’s the
goal. I’m sure this isn’t one girl feeling
one thing.”
Founded and operated by Montana-
based lawyer Marc Greendorfer,
the institute is “a legal think tank
and advocacy organization” “taking
the lead in the legal battle against
antisemitism and the de-legitimi-
zation of Israel, including ‘Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions,’” accord-
ing to its website.

McNeill said the organization has
worked with students at University of
California, Los Angeles, University
of Southern California and Duke
University, among other schools.

One Duke student, now an intern
with Zachor, had trouble establishing
a pro-Israel group on campus this past
school year. The university let him
establish a group that “doesn’t have
any rights on campus,” as McNeill
explained it.

A registered student organization at
Duke, according to Greendorfer, can
use privileges like meeting in univer-
sity buildings. This student’s group
couldn’t do that.

“Sometimes a student will see some-
thing and won’t know what to do,”
McNeill said.

That’s where Zachor comes in.

McNeill is available to help like a friend
would be: via text, phone call and email
at any time.

She is the institute’s only full-time
employee; even Greendorfer works a
day job as a lawyer and calls the non-
profit work his passion.

Earlier in April, McNeill talked to a
student whose mezuzah kept getting
ripped down. A police officer told him
to just take it off his door. But the
student found that to be a violation
of his religious freedom. So, he talked
to McNeill, who told him to post a
message on his door explaining what a
mezuzah is.

“Even if we’re just an ear for the
students, I think that’s something,” the
You can go so much
farther when you
find the right fit.

Temple alum said.

But Zachor can also be more than
just an ear, according to Greendorfer.

His legal expertise can help inform
them of their rights, he said.

“A lot of the students don’t know
their rights; they don’t know where to
go; they don’t realize that what they’re
experiencing is a violation of anti-dis-
crimination law,” the lawyer added.

“We’re willing to walk through things,
take our time and inform you.”
Zachor gets its funding from pro-Is-
rael foundations and individuals,
according to Greendorfer, and it has
enough money to offer its services for
free. The lawyer and project manager
are hoping that Jewish students at
the Philly schools they’ve contacted,
like the University of Pennsylvania
and Drexel University in addition to
Temple, will soon take it up on the
offer. “We do see a lot of issues there.

But we’re not getting a response,”
Greendorfer said. “It’s up to their lead-
ers, the Jewish educators on campus to
also be responsive and proactive in this
fight against antisemitism and BDS.” JE
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