How can university leaders alter the campus climate? - opinion

Higher education has come under widespread scrutiny and, in some cases, been thoroughly maligned over the last year. Public confidence in our institutions of higher learning is at an all-time low, and although numerous factors contributed to this decline, leadership failure tops the list.

Most people – including President Joe Biden – recoiled in disgust when learning of the events of October 7. Decent people everywhere were horrified to learn that a horde of blood-thirsty terrorists had raced through Israeli communities, murdering civilians and committing unspeakable atrocities against women, the elderly, and even babies. 

But on campuses across the nation, pockets of students gathered to express their solidarity with the terrorists. They quickly moved to intimidate and harass anyone – especially Jews – who might disagree with them. 

Worst of all, they were emboldened to continue and even increase their tactics of harassment, vandalism, and sometimes violence by campus leaders who gave them free rein to do as they pleased.

This is not just my opinion. These are the findings of a recent congressional report based on a year-long investigation of the incidents. The Committee on Education and the Workforce majority has released a report detailing how antisemitism spread over college campuses while administrators turned a blind eye to the dangers posed to Jewish students, faculty, and staff. The report is not partisan posturing; it is based on copious evidence gathered from colleges and universities across America.

To people of good conscience, it is deeply troubling that a congressional investigation into this matter was needed; how much more so that it took a full year for this report to appear, and that it was delayed by several universities refusing to cooperate. Indeed, records and communications had to be subpoenaed. 

UNIVERSITY leaders failed to respond appropriately to violence. They failed to call out antisemitism and prejudice when it was literally encamped on their doorsteps. They allowed harassment and destruction of school property and failed to adequately discipline students who violated university policies. 

They failed to take their unique roles as leaders seriously, endangering the very people they were tasked with protecting. And, as a result, some of these leaders are no longer leading.

Leadership is not sticking a wet finger in the air to determine which way the wind is blowing (or convincing a board of trustees that you are the right person for the job). Leadership is put to the test during a crisis – when those who you are charged with protecting truly require that protection.

I don’t believe that those presidents who lost their positions were antisemitic, but their enabling of terrorist supporters was the opposite of leadership. It was ineptitude and cowardice. Calling out failure is the first step to instigating change. 

University leaders must enforce their own policies 

How can university leaders alter the campus climate? To begin, they must enforce their own policies and restore safe learning environments for everyone. Check double standards when deliberating on how to respond to campus protests or complaints about discrimination. 

A leader should be passionate about protecting students regardless of their demographic. Leaders must courageously speak up in support of the Jewish campus community and condemn antisemitism, regardless of the fallout. 

Some universities have admitted to avoiding “political issues” in fear of antagonizing constituencies; that policy is only helpful when uniformly applied without a double standard.

For far too long, Jews have been cast as villains in the national diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) discussion, rather than as victims of bias. Universities must integrate Jewish students into DEI efforts, ensuring that efforts to eliminate racism and bias on campus explicitly include antisemitism. Rather than referring to DEI, leaders should firmly support efforts to eliminate all racism and ensure equal opportunities for everyone.

Discourage the use of harmful terminology; encourage students to debate sensitive subject matters without hate speech. The future of Gaza and Lebanon, opinions about the war in the Middle East, Palestinian rights – these are all legitimate objects for debate. But advocating violence against civilians is not legitimate and should not be tolerated any more than we would tolerate violence against any other minorities.

The events of the last year are a wake-up call, not only on the role of higher education in molding the minds and hearts of the next generation, but most importantly in building and instilling effective models of leadership and moral clarity. 

When leaders stand up for justice, withstand pressure, and act to protect all students, we can collectively restore confidence in America’s institutions of higher education.

The writer is the president of Touro University.