Rabbi Matt Rosenberg knows that campus antisemitism has been a “hot-button issue” since Oct. 7. That’s why he brought together 150 Jewish graduate student leaders from across the United States and Canada to learn resilience through The Jewish Graduate Organization Partner Summit.
The national convention, which focused on Jewish leadership training, took place in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 15 and 16. The student attendees heard a keynote address from Tom Nides, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, and participated in a panel addressing growing antisemitism, especially on college campuses.
In the three months that followed Oct. 7, the Anti-Defamation League tracked 56 antisemitic assaults and 500 incidents on college campuses — a 361% increase compared to the same period one year prior.
‘Jewish Resilience: Countering Antisemitism with Courage’
During the antisemitism panel, Jewish community leaders and experts aimed to define antisemitism, discuss the issue of growing antisemitism especially on college campuses and suggest coping mechanisms for Jewish students to navigate and address these challenges.
Panelists included Scott Lasensky, senior advisor for the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism; Adela Cojan, Jewish activist and influencer; Sara Brenner, executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation, part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington; Meredith Weisel, regional director of the ADL’s Washington, D.C., office and Dr. Kelly Romirowsky of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
“A lot of what we talked to the students about, first, was being safe on campus, supporting them, being heard and being seen and recognizing that every individual has to decide when they are looking at a situation as either ‘I want to build a relationship’ or ‘I want to educate people to be an ally,’” Brenner said. “Those things can be related, but they can also be different.”
When Brenner asked how many of the attendees have a non-Jewish friend with whom they’re working to have a deeper understanding across differences, nearly every hand in the room went up.
“A lot of what we talked about was how to focus on both sharing your story and connecting with non-Jewish peers [on] a personal [level], telling them how you feel about being Jewish at this time, the seminal events that have shaped your perspective, helping them understand and recognize antisemitic tropes as well as why they’re problematic,” Brenner said.
The moderator, JGO Director of Advocacy Alona Shaked, asked the panelists the best way to teach Jewish peers about antisemitism, how to navigate planning an educational event on antisemitism without mentioning Israel and how to support Israel while not necessarily supporting its policies.
Although some may find it unnecessary to teach Jewish students about antisemitism and how to recognize it, third-year law student Lauren Eber, who attended the event, said these conversations are necessary since antisemitism may operate in unfamiliar ways and since Jewish students sometimes experience a “level of gaslighting” when they call out antisemitism.
Eber, who attends Georgetown University Law Center and serves as the co-president of its Jewish Law Students Association, said it is important that Jewish students have the framework and ability to articulate what antisemitism is so they can better address the hate when it arises.
Brenner said the Q&A portion took the panel over the allotted time by 10 minutes since students asked complicated questions.
“The students’ questions were really the most thought-provoking and difficult,” Brenner said. “‘How do I deal with the professor who’s excluding me from a classroom because of my beliefs around Israel?’ ‘How do I address a club that doesn’t want me to be involved anymore because I’m Jewish?’ ‘How do I feel safe on campus during this time?’ ‘How do I work with the administration on policies that could be effective for keeping Jewish students safe on campus?’”
The previous year’s JGO summit panel, held weeks before Oct. 7, also focused on antisemitism, though Rosenberg said the 2023 event was more hypothetical than practical — this year, these discussions feel relevant for many.
“The theme of this particular [panel] is resilience,” Rosenberg said. “We’re trying to give students coping skills because we realized that there’s much of this [situation] we can’t really control. It’s going to take a wide swath of different people with different skill sets to be able to help [Jewish graduate] students cope on a day-to-day level with the pressure of going to school, trying to get a job and trying to run a Jewish club.”
‘Oftentimes, Grad Students Are Forgotten’
Rosenberg said JGO, a grassroots organization, fulfills a need to support Jewish graduate students with what they’re going through, and that it was never intended to address antisemitism as it now does, with the hiring of an advocacy director and a partnership with the ADL.
“We’re a Jewish engagement organization,” Rosenberg said. “We’re not a Jewish advocacy organization at all. [We’re] completely apolitical, but today, students need our help with advocacy, so all of us are forced to learn new skill sets.”
Rosenberg wants graduate students to find community with one another. Although campuses across the U.S. and Canada may operate differently in terms of Jewish student programming, he said these students share more in common than they may believe.
“Most of them are doing the same things and dealing with the same issues,” Rosenberg said. “A big part of this program is realiz[ing] that they’re not alone in what they’re doing today.”
JGO is one of the only resources for Jewish graduate students, who have unique needs compared to their undergraduate counterparts, Rosenberg said. He added that getting involved in campus advocacy is “higher stakes” for graduate students since they are likely looking to advance their careers.
“Grad students … [can be] very hesitant to do things or to say things or to get involved in politics. Because of that, … when dealing with anti-Jewish hate and antisemitism, they can’t necessarily go in guns blazing every time,” Rosenberg said. “The stakes are just too high for that.”
Eber said JGO addresses a gap in Jewish programming — there are clubs and organizations for undergraduate Jewish students, and programming for young Jewish families, but not as much in between.
“I think oftentimes, grad students are forgotten,” Eber said.
Rosenberg said he understands this gap and works to unite Jewish graduate students. The events of the two-day summit were interspersed with networking opportunities.
“We’re trying for events to be practical, informative, educational, inspiring,” Rosenberg said. “More than that, students feel like they’re part of the community.”
