U.S. Senators meet with Jewish students as campuses brace for disruptive fall protests
Students from multiple colleges and universities across the U.S. met with senators to address their concerns about anti-Semitism on campuses as they prepare to return for the fall term.
Senator James Lankford: “No students should live in fear on their campus or in the classroom because of their faith.”
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) held a roundtable meeting with students across the county to address their concerns and experiences relating to anti-Semitism at their colleges and universities.
Senators Rosen and Lankford, the co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, hosted students who are returning to their campuses at Columbia University, University of Oregon, University of Oklahoma, Rutgers University, George Washington University, and Ohio State University.
In a press release, Rosen said that the recent surge in anti-Semitic actions and violence against Jewish people as “unacceptable,” stating that “[e]very student has the right to pursue an education in a safe environment without fear, intimidation, or discrimination.”
Adding to Rosen’s statement, Senator James Lankford stated that “[n]o student should live in fear on their campus or in the classroom because of their faith,” and added that he applauds the courage of the students to speak up at the meeting about their experiences.
“I am encouraged by their resolve to shine a bright light into the deep darkness of antisemitism on some American university campuses,” stated Lankford, adding, “We must condemn and combat antisemitism wherever we see it and remain resolved to ‘never again.’”
Mitch Wolf, a Rutger University student, stated during the meeting that he was on campus when the anti-Israel encampment was established.
He said that the experience shook him “profoundly,” and added that “it felt like an intrusion into my personal space as if someone had declared my home turf no longer mine and unwelcome for my learning simply because of my identity or beliefs.”
A graduate student from Columbia University, Noa Fay, stated in the meeting that the anti-Israel movement at colleges and universities “must be dismantled if only for the fact that it is fundamentally rooted in hatred.”
Fay said that she loves her university and her Jewish faith and wants her university and others to “restore these communities to what I know them to truly be: places where everyone is accepted and defended as members of the community.”
In May, Senator Jacky Rosen and James Lankford also sent a letter requesting that Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona designate a senior official with the responsibility of overseeing anti-Semitism on campuses across the United States.
Campus Reform has contacted the offices of Senator Lankford and Senator Rosen for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
