Two Jewish alumni sued Chapman University, claiming they faced “a campaign of harassment lasting for the entire duration of the 2023-2024 school year, enacted with Chapman’s direct approval,” citing death threats and desecration of Oct. 7 memorials. The lawsuit centers on alleged Title VI violations of the Civil Rights Act.
Rabbi Ari Israel, who has led Maryland Hillel as executive director for over two decades, is playing a key role in the creation of a new center for Jewish life on campus — Maryland Hillel’s new building. The site for the new space returns Hillel to its original location, where it served students from 1941 to 1981. The nearly 40,000-square-foot building will include kosher dining, study spaces, a Beit Midrash, multipurpose rooms, and features designed to support Jewish student leadership, Israel education, and antisemitism awareness.
In a recent opinion piece, a Harvard student published advice in the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, suggesting it is acceptable to end friendships with peers solely because they identify as “Zionists.” In response, The Crimson received dozens of letters to the editors rebutting the idea that it is okay to shun other students because of their faith, religious beliefs, or connection to the Jewish state. One of the responses was written by the Executive Committee of the Harvard Chaplains, who said that they are “profoundly troubled by any normalization of shunning or socially ostracizing individuals or groups based on their religious identity.”
Brown University convened over a thousand alumni, students, faculty, and staff for a weekend event to honor the institution’s long history of Jewish student life. The gathering featured social events, panel discussions, an exhibit tracing significant Jewish milestones on campus, and reflections on how the Jewish community at Brown has evolved. The event was organized by Brown alum Abby Doft, a member of the Hillel International Board of Directors.
The University of Maryland’s student government cast a symbolic vote to bar former Israel Defense Forces soldiers from speaking on campus, claiming their presence undermines the university’s values of safety and inclusion. Ari Israel, executive director of Maryland Hillel, responded that, “We proudly support bringing IDF soldiers to campus and connecting students with Israel, our ancestral Jewish homeland,” adding that the resolution “fosters hate and division rather than the open exchange of ideas that should define our university.” A university of Maryland official said that the symbolic vote will have “no bearing on university policy or practice.”
The University of Wyoming is investigating incidents on campus where pumpkins and a “free speech ball” carved with antisemitic and violent messages, including phrases like “Kill Jews” and Nazi symbols, were placed on campus. University officials removed the display and are reviewing the incidents as potential discrimination or harassment.