H eadlines
How Bad is Local Campus Antisemitism?
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
THE ANTI-DEFAMATION
League and Hillel International
released a report on Oct. 26
that said one in three Jewish
college students experienced
antisemitism in the past year.

According to those organi-
zations, most students who
experienced antisemitism
didn’t report it. Significant
percentages (38 and 15) also
mentioned feeling uncomfort-
able stating their Jewish pride
and revealing their Jewish
background. While the findings were
eye-opening, they only came
from 756 “self-identified Jewish
undergraduate students”
across the United States. Local
Hillel leaders say the survey is
not representative of their own
campuses. “I’d be shocked if you found
one in three Temple students
who have experienced antisem-
itism in-person on campus,”
said Daniel Levitt, the execu-
tive director of Hillel at Temple
University. Jeremy Winaker is the
executive director of the
Greater Philly Hillel Network,
which welcomes students from
West Chester University, Bryn
Mawr College and Haverford
College, as well as area graduate
students. And he backed up Levitt’s
claim. “Things are quiet on
campus,” Winaker said. “My
impression is that even the
flare-up with Gaza this past
May was not a factor.”
Winaker was referring to
the latest Israeli-Palestinian
conflict over contested terri-
tory. And while that dispute
may not have led to campus
incidents, it did lead to social
media posting from young
people. That, according to Winaker,
was how a lot of the students
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Temple students enjoy a Hillel picnic. 
in his network experienced
antisemitism this year. Jewish
students would see antisemitic
posts and comments and the
support that they often received.

Levitt said it would
frequently take the form of peers
of Jewish students reposting
antisemitic statements.

“It’s a social media phenom-
enon more than anything
else,” he said. “It gives them
anxiety about people they see
on campus.”
One local student, Abby
Sullivan, a Temple senior and
the former president of the
school’s Hillel chapter, sees
these posts regularly. After
the May Israeli-Palestinian
conf lict, she opened the
Instagram story of a college
acquaintance. Sullivan saw what she
described as “incredibly offen-
sive” to the Jewish community.

So, she reached out to the girl
and told her she wanted to have
a conversation.

“‘There’s a way to discuss
this without being offen-
sive,’” Sullivan recalled of her
message. The girl blocked Sullivan on
Instagram. Later, people sent Sullivan
another story that the girl posted
that was anti-Jewish in nature.

The senior again reached out to
her acquaintance.

Photo by Lauren Marks
“I said, ‘This is not the way,’”
Sullivan remembered. “‘Just
because people can’t see it
doesn’t mean you aren’t doing
something wrong.’”
She said the passive-aggres-
sive social media culture is
present on campus, too.

Temple is the largest univer-
sity in one of the world’s
biggest Jewish regions — the
Greater Philadelphia area.

Despite that, in her almost four
years at Temple, Sullivan has
heard antisemitic comments
worthy of some town in which
residents have never met a Jew.

“‘I’ve never met a Jew before,
this is crazy, you’re so rare,’”
Sullivan said of one remark
she’s heard.

Other Temple students
have expressed surprise after
learning that her family doesn’t
own a bank. They assumed
that she supported former
President Donald Trump due
to his pro-Israel stance, that
she hated all Palestinians and
that she wanted to control the
Middle East.

Earlier this school year,
Sullivan’s roommate told a
classmate that she was Jewish.

The person responded by
saying, “OK, I got to go call
Hitler and the Nazis.”
“I know when I feel uncom-
fortable and when it feels like
antisemitism,” Sullivan said.

JEWISH EXPONENT
At the same time, she agreed
with Levitt and Winaker.

Very rarely, if ever, does this
antisemitism rise to the level of
a reportable incident.

The senior also defended
her fellow students. Most
just haven’t met or spoken to
enough Jews, Sullivan said.

And despite seeing Jews as
caricatures, they aren’t white
supremacists; they don’t
possess some doctrinal belief
in antisemitism.

Therefore, Sullivan said,
they are reachable. And so,
she tries to reach them by
explaining things like Jewish
holidays or that not all Jews
are rich.

“Nine times out of 10 I’ll
get, ‘I’m so sorry,’” she said.

“‘Please teach me more.’”
Winaker believes that Jews
and Jewish organizations need
to follow Sullivan’s lead, but
on social media. The Jewish
community has to counter
antisemitic grandstanders with
positive, pro-Jewish, pro-Zi-
onist messages.

On Oct. 27, the three-year
anniversary of the Tree of Life
synagogue complex shooting
in Pittsburgh, there was a
steady flow of tweets remem-
bering the victims. One even
came from President Joe Biden,
who is not Jewish.

Winaker saw this as an
example of what Jews need to
start doing.

“We can best serve students
by having deep conversations
in person and offering positive
images of Judaism and Israel in
social media,” he said. l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
THINKING ABOUT –
Moving? Moving to Independent
Senior Living?
Selling your home?
S 3 Living
THINK ABOUT –
Strategic Senior Solutions
S 3 Living
or Life Plan Community (CRRC).

S 3 Living represents YOU , not the communities. We will
recommend the best solution to meet your individual needs.

Call the DelawareValley’s leading expert on
Independent Senior Living
David Reibstein, President
215-259-5225 (o) 215-870-7362 (c)
Call today for a free consultation
S3Living.com NOVEMBER 4, 2021
5