Thank you Menhua for setting the record straight regarding what is going on at Vassar. While some in the administration are trying to portray the negative publicity as resulting from a few disgruntled alums who don’t know what is going on, the truth is that there has been a group of Vassar alums that for several years has monitored the situation. these alums have visited the campus many times and spoken directly with students and some faculty who are very distressed and alarmed by the hostile atmosphere toward anyone who speaks in support of Israel. In fact, even J Street members, who are very critical of Israel, have been subjected to attacks because they have said Israel has a right to exist and because they have opposed BDS. The BDS supporters at Vassar conflate Zionism with racism, and so Israel supporters are automatically smeared as racists. J Street had to go through a special vote in the student government in order to attend a very left-leaning conference because the conference had speakers who have been characterized as Zionists; some in the student government equated Zionism with racism. And on March 6th the student government, by a vote of 15-7, passed a BDS resolution. Several students reported that in the meeting leading up to the vote, several pro-BDS students mocked and laughed at Jewish students who said they had been targeted and made uncomfortable by the BDS campaign. Vassar is going to need to take very far-reaching steps to undo the damage that years of neglecting this issue has caused.
Zionism is racism. That’s indisputable and the subject of numerous UN resolutions. Only Israel, the US and few islands in the Pacific disagree. However, Vassar is not even slightly anti-semitic. Students oppose the policies of the Israeli government but that isn’t the same as being anti-Jewish.
As for being uncomfortable, I am sick of everyone running around and saying how their feelings have been hurt. Universities are not nursery schools. You go to universities to learn and to experience, and that can be uncomfortable. Similarly, universities are under no obligation to ensure that students are never offended. If you cannot handle things at university, just wait until you start working.
I think that the pro-Zionist lobby is going to be sorely disappointed. Vassar isn’t going to change to suit you. Applications are up and students still enrol.
Sadovaya would fit right in at Vassar with that viewpoint, sad to say. Sadovaya can’t seem to distinguish between criticism of a nation and working toward its elimination. Sadovaya also seems ignorant of the fact that the UN revoked its infamous resolution that had equated Zionism with racism – a resolution that was originally passed through the machinations of the Soviet Union, which was looking to justify its refusal to condemn anti-Semitism. Take a look at Vassar’s student newspaper, the Miscellany News, in which an alum recently wrote a letter explaining why the BDS movement embraced by too many Vassar students is so wrong. Here’s what the alum wrote: " Many call pro- BDS political speech, but to many it is hate speech that hampers the cause of peace. In the cause of BDS, students are holding signs in the Campus Center equating Zionism with Racism. Why should one regard such signs as hate speech? Because, the UN officially has revoked this statement and the United States has rejected this sentiment:
“Zionism is not a policy; it is the idea that led to the creation of a home for the Jewish people, to the State of Israel. And to equate Zionism with the intolerable sin of racism is to twist history and forget the terrible plight of Jews in World War II and, indeed, throughout history.
This (UN) body cannot claim to seek peace and at the same time challenge Israel’s right to exist. By repealing this resolution unconditionally, the United Nations will enhance its credibility and serve the cause of peace.”
To sadovaya:
To follow-up where spotlighter left off, it is true that Vassar has become increasingly competitive, as have many other elite colleges. It is also the case that several pro-BDS faculty members have said that Vassar has changed and that it’s time for alumni to move on. However, like you, they are forgetting that colleges need alumni support and that Vassar would not be what it is today without that support.
Many alumni, especially Jewish ones, have moved on. We’ve heard that students on campus sneer and dismiss us as “old rich Jewish alums”. We’ve moved on and are now donating to places other than Vassar.
The college cannot expect to continue to be able to attract the best students and great faculty without alumni support. If these problems persist, Vassar’s best days are in the past, even if admission is still competitive today.
Vassar is either going to change or eventually become a ho-hum institution without the endowment it needs to support scholarships and programs.
I’ll say up front that I don’t agree with the BDS principles. I’m a firm supporter of Israel and believe that Jews have played a very important role in the development of Vassar and should have an honored position at the school.
That being said, I do disagree with some of the things being said on this thread regarding Vassar.
Allowing robust debates to happen is really the essence of free speech. Providing an environment for free speech to flourish means allowing sometimes hurtful things to be said. Tools like Yik Yak obviously provide means for such free speech and debate to be taken to obnoxious levels where people might even feel intimidated and beaten down, but restricting such expressions on the basis that the content is wrong or hurtful has its own downsides.
Second, college is place where these kinds of vigorous debates about politics and ideology happen. I would be much more concerned about sending my kid to a college where debates like this are discouraged or muzzled than a place like Vassar where they happen out in the open. We don’t give kids enough credit for being able to distinguish radical thought and hate speech from sensible political dialogue. Being able to distinguish these things in a relatively safe forum is part of a world-class education.
Finally, I think disengaging from the alumni community at Vassar and stopping donations is a mistake. Don’t you think that the Vassar administration is more likely to listen to alumni who show loyalty and commitment to the school despite their concerns about current events than alums who have effectively turned their back on the school because some fringe radicals are espousing controversial views because they have academic freedom and free speech? Better to stay engaged is what I would say.
While sadovaya doesn’t care how the author of this articles feels, I’m sure that many will. Incidentally, note that Abigail Johnson, who wrote the article that is linked in this one, never mentions Israel even once and seems to believe that a little anti-Semitism is normal at Vassar: http://forward.com/opinion/335947/how-jewish-students-like-me-got-bullied-at-vassar-bds-vote/
With all due respect, ReallyOK is missing the point. There is NO vigorous open debate at Vassar. The pro-BDS faculty and students have successfully intimidated other faculty and students so that they don’t speak up. They don’t want to be smeared as “racist” because they support Israel. And, please note, that both Students for Justice in Palestine and the pro-BDS faculty actively discourage students from challenging their views. The faculty for years has resisted efforts by the administration to encourage them to bring in speakers with a broader spectrum of views on Israel. Just recently, because of all the negative publicity in the WSJ and elsewhere, some faculty are feeling the heat to bring in a different sort of speaker. But it remains to be seen if that will really happen. And in any event, there needs to be a sea change in the way faculty see their role before the campus atmosphere really changes. They have to stop seeing their primary role to be social justice warriors and recognize that their main job is to expose their students to many different viewpoints and to encourage the students’ critical thinking.
I just want to say, as a current Vassar student who doesn’t have a stance on BDS (I don’t know enough about the issue) that yes, it’s hard to be publicly pro-Israel at this college. But that is mostly due to a select few who are extremely vocal. Personally, I hate the way we talk about BDS/the whole conflict, and I’m not happy the resolution passed mainly because I don’t like our student gov being political. But it is going to referendum, most likely, so hopefully that helps.
Bottom line, I don’t think this is a reason to not attend Vassar; we still have a strong Jewish community, and most people are willing to have constructive dialogue. Unfortunately, our campus climate isn’t currently suited for public discussions, but I hope we’ll get there. And no, most of our faculty is not anti-Semitic (although, granted, I’m a science major. so I don’t take a ton of humanity courses). If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
vell28: I have also heard that the pro-BDS student group is a small one. The problem is that, at least this year, they took control of the student government, and they are encouraged by pro-BDS faculty. Students involved in student government allegedly told the head of a student group that his group (which had nothing to do with the Middle East) would be defunded if he didn’t support Students for Justice in Palestine. The actions of the pro-BDS students make it impossible to dismiss them as a “select few”.
Ari Shavit, the author of the 2013 New York Times Best Seller “My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel,” and a left of center Zionist, came to talk at Vassar this week. The lecture was streamed, and I listened. Shavit started by telling students that he had heard a lot about what has been going on at Vassar, and he emphasized the need to be civil. He defended Zionism without defending the occupation and without claiming that the Israelis are “angels” or that they are always innocent.
People listening on their computers from home could not hear the questions during the Q&A session. Judging from Shavit’s responses, the questions were probably antagonistic. Though I have read his book and know more of the history than most people, his answers were very reassuring to me as a liberal Zionist who opposes the current government in Israel. He reminded the audience repeatedly of the myriad ways in which the pro-BDS crowd holds Israel to a higher standard than they hold any other country in the world. His answer to why we shouldn’t expect a one-state solution to work in Israel was excellent. It’s been tried already in Syria, where it clearly has not worked.
I am glad that the administration is finally trying to tackle the problems. Will the administration succeed? Who knows?
What has been the reaction to Shavit’s talk on campus? I was disappointed not to see an article about it in The Miscellany News this week. I’d hoped this talk would have been a turning point at Vassar. Are people discussing it, or was it a poorly attended lecture that has already been forgotten?
Good luck to you and all the others on campus who are sick of these problems.
My good friend is a prof there. I’ll have to ask for her take on this.
Menhua, going back to your comment about the Nazi image put up on Tumblr by an SJP member, that was done independently without the knowledge of other SJP members. Everyone other than them within SJP was beyond furious when they found it because it in no way aligns with their own values. I can’t speak for the lone wolf who made the post.
I’ve since spoken to other Jewish alumni of Vassar (mostly class of 2014), and they all think it’s ridiculous to claim that there’s anti-semitism at Vassar.
Right you are. I am also a Vassar alumna and the parent of a Vassar alumna but our involvement with Vassar is over: my grandchild will not be a third generation Vassarite. I think that one reason that Hill has done almost nothing about the anti-Jewish activity is that she just does not care: she is leaving Vassar after the next academic year. I read in the Poughkeepsie Journal that Hill has been praised for expanding diversity and for getting more students of all socio-economic statuses into the student body. I also note that some of the faculty–including the Jewish Studies Department!–has sponsored anti-Semitic activities on campus. All of this tells me that Vassar has deteriorated into an institution that no longer respects academic excellence, among its other sins. What sort of “professors” and students is Vassar recruiting these days, in the name of “diversity”? Vassar now has the dubious distinction of being number 10 on the list of the top ten anti-Semitic colleges in the U.S. So, in an effort to do my part,I did not attend my class’ fiftieth reunion, I did not contribute to the class gift, and I did not include Vassar in my will. In conversations with people who solicit my advice about colleges, I am actively discouraging anyone–Jew and non-Jew–from applying to Vassar. Clearly, the cost of the tuition is not worth it: who wants to attend a school with such an ignorant, bigoted faculty and an administration which is callously indifferent to the shameful, ignorant goings-on on campus?
I hope that Jewish students are no longer enrolling. As for Zionism = racism, do please realize that both Jews and Arabs are Semites.
If you think that what the U.N. says (Zionism is racism) is the gospel truth, then you know nothing about the U.N. Who do you think votes to condemn Israel in the U.N.? Do you honestly think that those votes are based upon factual information as opposed to the advancement of the voters’ political agenda?
Folks, please reread the posts from students and recent alums on this thread. You are overreacting to the actions of a small but vocal group at Vassar. You would be much better served sending you donations to Hillel at Vassar rather than disengaging altogether from Vassar. Let’s keep the the Jewish community strong.
Reunion was this past weekend. Any issues surface?
I heard that the reunion presentation aimed at pro-Israel alums was an insult to the those in attendance. Administrators spent much time discussing how wonderful Vassar is and then tried to break the group up into smaller groups for small group discussions. One alum apparently stood up immediately and challenged the break up into small groups, which was perceived by the attendees as a divide and conquer tactic. Alums started asking questions about the problems instead. But it is a moot point. The president resigned almost a year early, effective mid-August, having found a think tank that wanted her, and Vassar now has an acting president. The acting president will try very hard not to do anything either decisive or divisive this year while the BoT searches for and appoints a new president to come on board next summer. What are the priorities of the BoT in terms of finding a new president? Alums haven’t been told. Many alums, especially older ones, have been unhappy with anti-semitic activity on campus, and many faculty have been unhappy about low salaries. Everyone is unhappy about the fact that tuition and fees at Vassar are now among the highest, some say the highest, of any small liberal arts college in the country. Will the campus be a hot-bed of anti-Semitism again this year? Will anti-Semites among the faculty keep pushing to have their way now that Vassar is at a crossroads? As an alum, I’m hoping Vassar finds its way again, but I think it will take a few years with a strong president who is willing to lead. Big changes are in order, or the problems will persist. It will all take time for the college to recover from Cappy’s presidency.
I see Bret Stephens has been invited to campus 9/20. I think that’s a good development Menhua.
Yes, I see it as a positive development, too, Kaukauna. However, I expect that the audience will consist mostly of older people, including alumni and others not associated with the college. Only small numbers of students will attend. Don’t expect a large group of faculty members either. Vassar students and faculty lean far left. To be a moderate Democrat on campus is to be a conservative. Stephens’ conservative credentials will be enough of a reason for most members of the student body and the faculty to dismiss anything he has to say. (I say this as someone who is very consistently left of center, though many pro-BDS on the far left would disagree with that characterization.) Hopefully, students from Students for Justice in Palestine won’t cause a disturbance.
http://www.brandeis.edu/ssri/pdfs/campusstudies/AntisemitismCampuses101316.pdf
Interesting, In that Vassar is not even mentioned in this report considering the comments in this thread.