Educating the next generation of pro-Israel leaders - opinion

On October 7, we were all called up to service to stand with Israel and the Jewish people. As the flagship Jewish university in the United States, Yeshiva University (YU) has distinctly responded to this call by being a force of moral clarity and leadership in the higher education world.

In the weeks after the attack, we took action to bridge the political and ideological divide across campuses to form a historic coalition of over 100 universities and colleges that stood firmly with Israel and against Hamas terrorism. This unprecedented alliance, known as Universities United Against Terrorism, united public, private, faith-based, and historically Black colleges and universities, becoming a much-needed beacon of truth, rooted in enduring values that are often absent in today’s academic landscape. The coalition attracted widespread attention from journalists, the business community, elected officials, and academia, quickly evolving into a powerful movement. The need for such support has never been more urgent: As of August 2024, a whopping 44% of college students and recent graduates said they “rarely” or “never” feel safe identifying as Jewish on campus, while the Anti-Defamation League reports that on-campus anti-Israel activism has risen a staggering 477%.

YU has taken on a pivotal role in safeguarding Jewish college students nationwide. We have worked with the Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and congressional leadership to protect all Jewish students in the US from the harassment that has sadly characterized too many college campuses. We have also reinforced this commitment with the launch of the Robert K. Kraft Blue Square Scholars program to help support students seeking to transfer into YU for a top-tier education on a safe, nurturing campus. Established with a major gift from businessman and philanthropist Robert Kraft as part of his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, the initiative will strengthen our mission to support Jewish students across the country, offering the infrastructure needed to welcome the best and brightest who value YU’s strong stance on Israel and Jewish ideals. Indeed, amid escalating harassment on college campuses and a sharp increase in transfer applications, this year we welcomed many transfer students from top universities.

At this time it is essential to identify, bring together, and express gratitude to the allies who stand strong with us. To this end, on Holocaust Remembrance Day I had the profound honor of heading the first-ever University Presidents and Chancellors Mission from the United States and Canada at the International March of the Living at Auschwitz. The university presidents came from a diverse group of institutions, and the trip, culminating with the March on May 6, powerfully underscored the urgent, ongoing imperative of “Never again.”

During our undergraduate commencement, YU highlighted the outstanding leadership of US Sen. John Fetterman, a staunch supporter of the Jewish state, by awarding him with our Presidential Medallion for Global Leadership. Fetterman made headlines in his address by removing the academic hood he earned with his degree from the Harvard Kennedy School in protest of his alma mater’s lack of support for its Jewish community after the Hamas attacks on Israel.

YU students rise up

Most inspiring and promising for the future of the pro-Israel community has been the activism of our students. They were a driving force behind the unprecedented March for Israel in Washington, DC, just a month after October 7, the largest pro-Israel gathering in US history. More than 4,000 YU students, staff, and alumni traveled to Washington – and became the largest contingent at the rally – to proudly demonstrate their support for the Jewish state. March for Israel organizers credited the rally’s great success to YU’s early decision to cancel all undergraduate and high school classes to enable participants to attend.

Multiple missions of students traveled to Israel during the first few months of the war to visit IDF soldiers, support the hostage families, and volunteer to assist displaced citizens. Over the course of the year, hundreds of our students have been to Israel, showing their direct and personal feelings of solidarity.

Throughout the year, our Yeshiva University Political Action Club organized hundreds of students to travel to Washington, DC, where they held private meetings with members of Congress for impactful days of lobbying to press for stronger support for Israel, and leadership in working to get the hostages released.

The leadership expressed by our students bodes well for the future of the Jewish people. They are the leaders of tomorrow, and during this challenging time they have risen to meet this moment with a deep sense of responsibility and personal commitment to Israel and to the Jewish people as a whole.

With all of the trials and triumphs from this past year, through the mourning of our fallen soldiers and our prayers for our hostages, the Jewish people have emerged stronger and more united in our belief in the mission and purpose of our eternal people. Am Yisrael chai, now and forever!■

The writer is president of Yeshiva University in New York.