Suit Portrays Gutless Rutgers Administrators in the Face of Raging Antisemitism

​The double standard in academia is reaching sickening levels.
 
At Rutgers, as at many universities, students who wear some outward sign of adhering to the Jewish faith, such as a kippah or a Star of David necklace, are often stopped and interrogated by self-appointed ideological vigilantes. At the same time, Jewish students are denied the right to hold a peaceful event on campus – including the forced cancellation of a peaceful, pro-Israel barbecue on the Rutgers University campus – out of fear of provoking violence from pro-Hamas protestors occupying the campus.
 
When rhetoric gets violent and confrontation becomes intimidating, viewpoint discrimination edges into persecution. Yet many elite universities flirt with such danger. We would be justly outraged if a young woman on campus was harassed for wearing a hijab, or a young Sikh man was stopped and interrogated about his turban. Yet administrators at Rutgers and other institutions are often missing in action when the targets are Jewish students. 
 
A recently filed lawsuit by student Rebecca Schafer against Rutgers University shines a light on how escalating antisemitism on America’s university campuses shuts down speech and free inquiry. Schafer, an Orthodox Jewish student, sued the university after enduring months of harassment, intimidation, and discrimination, which she claims the administration failed to address.
 
Schaffer recounts that eight days after the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, a student meeting at Demarest Hall took a dark turn when a student expressed joy over the high death toll in Israel, a sentiment that was met with approval from others. The dust had barely settled from this attack in which elderly Israelis were murdered and babies killed in their cribs. This disturbing incident was compounded when a mezuzah, a Jewish prayer scroll affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes for protection and blessing, was torn from a student's door and discarded in a bathroom. Schafer left the meeting scared and shaking, feeling deeply threatened by the aggression toward her faith.
 
Rebecca Schafer next became a personal target when posters with her photograph and pro-Palestinian slogans appeared outside her dorm room. This act of intimidation was terrifying for Schafer, leading to a police investigation and charges against two students. The chilling message was clear: “You aren’t safe anywhere at Rutgers.”
 
At a recent House hearing in which Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway and the presidents of other universities were grilled by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and other Members, it came to light just how frightening campus occupations are for Jewish students. In a particularly egregious incident, a student directed the remark “Hitler would have loved you” at Schafer during an encampment. Schafer recounts that Jewish students were forced to flee out the back door of university buildings to escape the hostile environment. The portrait painted by Schafer’s lawsuit is of a spineless university administration leaving Jewish students to fend for themselves in the face of violent rhetoric and threats.
 
The slow and methodical approach by Rutgers and other universities would never be tolerated if another ethnic or religious group were persecuted in such ways. When the fall semester begins in a few months, parents, students, and donors must demand college administrators react with alacrity to the persecution of Jewish students or be ready to give up their jobs.
 
Protect The 1st will monitor this story as it develops.