The presidents of two Christian universities have extended an open invitation to Jewish students to enroll at their campuses — vowing to protect their safety and wellbeing amid heated anti-Israel protests at colleges nationwide.
“We write to express our profound shock and indignation in response to the surge of hate and violence directed against Jewish and Israeli individuals on university campuses across the United States earlier this year,” the joint letter by Colorado Christian U. President Eric Hogue and Indiana Wesleyan University President Jon Kulag said.
Hogue and Kulag said Jew hatred expressed on campuses following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza exposed a “profound problem ” in cultural institutions including academia that “must be addressed.”
“We want to make it clear to our nation and the world that our Christian institutions will not tolerate this behavior,” the letter issued Wednesday said.
“We also want to express our profound concern that the terrible events we all witnessed at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year are already being forgotten.”
The leaders said antisemitism counters the Judeo-Christian values of “tolerance, freedom, and human dignity” that have been advanced in academia for centuries.
“In recent days, what we have seen is an insidious darkness encroaching upon the academy. It is a darkness emblematic of other terrible periods in history,” they said.
The presidents condemned other colleges for welcoming clubs such as the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which they said “spread antisemitism openly.”
“All university administrators must take decisive action to root out the seeds of hatred on their campuses before roots of hate take hold in academic communities,” they said.
“We want to extend a heartfelt invitation to Jewish and Israeli students to join us on our campuses. You will be welcomed, and you will be safe.”
A prominent New York Jewish leader praised Colorado Christian U. and Wesleyan U. for welcoming Jewish students, and hoped colleges in the Empire State — which have been a hotbed of anti-Zionist, and anti-Jewish sentiment — would follow suit.
“I hope their message will inspire other universities to offer the same kind of support. It sends a message to other universities that more has to be done to protect Jewish students,” said Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis.
Complaints of campus antisemitism impacted Columbia University and City University of New York campuses, and others across the country including Harvard.
About half of New York’s Jewish voters don’t believe New York’s college campuses will do enough to make Jewish students feel in the upcoming fall semester, a survey conducted for the New York Solidarity Network found.