Touro president: These are three reasons that antisemitism spread on campus - interview

The three main reasons that antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric have spread on American campuses are the illusion that antisemitism was gone, zero-sum ideologies based on oppressor/oppressed dynamics, and foreign propaganda campaigns, Touro University President Alan Kadish told The Jerusalem Post in an interview about how his institution served as a safe campus for Jewish students. 

Most "disasters," like airplane crashes or the one unfolding at US universities and colleges, are multifactorial, Kadish explained. One such factor was a "false illusion" that antisemitism was gone. 

"Some people, such as the founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, were under the illusion that antisemitism was gone. He's publicly posted on the net that he was under the illusion that anti-Semitism was gone and now realizes he was wrong," said Kadish. "Among some people, young and old, antisemitism has been around for a couple of thousand years, and it's never disappeared. I think it was socially unacceptable for a time, and that kept it under the lid, but it never disappeared." 

Kadish also cast blame on a worldview in which success was automatically deemed evil, and those unsuccessful assumed their victims -- a framework that didn't align with the educator's experiences.

"The worldview that's been developing on college campuses, assigned in curricula, promulgated by professors, made its way down through K through 12 education, is that Israel and Jews are somehow part of the oppressor class," said Kadish.

"But it ignores the long history of antisemitism. It ignores the fact that Israel, as a country, was established by the United Nations and has the same legitimate right to exist that all countries do. But in this dichotomy of oppressor and oppressed, we've been labeled oppressors without much thought to context or history. This intersectionality idea that you have to be on the right side of the oppressed, whether it turns out to be true or not, has led to some very smart students reacting instinctively and opposing Israel, socially ostracizing Jews. And opposing Jews because of their real or purported support for Israel."

Foreign campaigns perpetrated by anti-Israel forces

The final main factor influencing campuses, according to Kadish, is foreign campaigns by anti-Israel forces. There were some antagonistic states that had been funding professorships for decades. There were foreign state-controlled bots that had amplified online opposition to Israel immediately after October 7, "smartly spending a ton of money to promote antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment."

"It's the combination of those three factors, not of all of which are completely independent, that's promoted the horrendous antisemitism we've seen on college campuses," said Kadish.

Since the protests had erupted on campus, intensifying in April with the establishment of encampments, academic institutions have handled this multi-headed hydra of antisemitism and anti-Israel radicalism better than others -- but Kadish had empathy for them due to the complexities of campus governance. 

"I think what many people don't fully comprehend is how complex the job and the influences are on college campuses," said Kadish. "All colleges and universities, to some extent, based on standards from accreditors, which are put down through the US Department of Education, require a component joint governance, which means that college presidents can't just do whatever they want to, but that the faculty has a significant say in governance as well."

Boards, and to a lesser extent students, also had input, but faculty could greatly impede in the running of a university, explained the Touro president. 

"I'm disappointed in the way some of my colleagues have done it, and in some cases, profoundly disappointed," said Kadish. "But I think it's also fair to acknowledge that it's a very tough, complicated job in a very tough, complicated time."

During these complicated times, Touro sought to be an option for Jewish students who sought a safer environment. The institution created the Safe Campus scholarship for undergraduate students seeking to transfer from uncomfortable situations on other campuses. The scholarship, which was introduced in the spring semester, would reduce tuition by 25% on top of other discounts. The school had also created cohorts for students who transferred from professional programs. Kadish said that he didn’t yet have figures on how many took advantage of the new programs, but estimated that hundreds of students had transferred in 2024.

“They're transferring from everywhere,” said Kadish. “We've had students from public colleges, students from private schools, including Ivy League colleges.”

Without giving too many details to protect a fresh transfer, Kadish shared about a student that had experienced “overt, severe antisemitism” at an elite institution and transferred just before the interview.

For students who had experienced such troubling incidents of antisemitism and anti-Israel bullying, Touro had offered additional mental health services. Mental health aid had always been available, said Kadish, but since the October 7 massacre, it added counseling at its largest campus at Times Square. Hundreds of students had reportedly used the services.

Another program, created through cooperation with the American Jewish Committee, sought to empower students against anti-Israel rhetoric.

“Touro believes that students needed to be trained in how to respond to false narratives, misleading statistics, and hateful rhetoric and that the last few months have underscored the need to have Jewish leaders who can communicate clearly, articulately, and effectively regarding Israel and the Jewish community,” Kadish explained.

Kadish credited Touro’s rise as a safe harbor in turbulent academic times not just to the scholarships and transfer programs but because while it was a “diverse institution,” it had always been Jewish sponsored with Jewish observant campuses.

“Everyone who's at Touro knows they're at a Jewish school,” said Kadish. 

The campuses had no encampments for demonstrations, and while there had been instances of individual students speaking up, Kadish claimed that they were a few among their 19,000 students. The little vandalism the school suffered was not antisemitic, he said.

“Compared to any other institution in the country, it's been quite quiet,” said Kadish. “Our faculty hasn't spoken up in negative ways. We've had a number of faculty who have supported Israel, but there's been no agitation among the faculty. I think within the context of America in 2024, for a diverse campus, we've been about as safe welcoming as one could possibly expect.”

Kadish said that he emphasized with students who were grappling with unsafe campuses and that it was everyone’s responsibility to ensure students had a place to pursue academia unhindered by anti-Israel activists.

“We all have to work together to make sure that it doesn't continue to happen and that we'll make a place for you if you want to be someplace safe, where you can get an outstanding education,” said Kadish.