Last Sunday’s violent terrorist attack in Boulder came just before the celebration of the holiday of Shavuot, commemorating our receiving The Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai some 3,300 years ago. The blueprint our People received was a plan for building a righteous society. We have fallen woefully short of achieving that utopian goal, as last Sunday’s violent terrorist attack in Boulder reminds us. Yet we persist in the pursuit: it’s what Jews do.
All seven Front Range universities Hillel of Colorado serves are now on summer break. We can exhale a bit because despite Hillel of Colorado’s expanding to three new campuses, significantly increasing our student engagement system-wide three consecutive years, and facing escalating campus antisemitism, none of our students have been physically injured in antisemitic attacks – although many have witnessed and been recipients of verbal attacks on campus. However, others weren’t so lucky, and our hopes and prayers go out to those injured in Boulder Sunday.
We are fortunate our Jewish community is now prepared to work well together: when antisemitism strikes, a small coalition of local Jewish nonprofits that includes Hillel of Colorado, ADL, Israeli American Council, Jewish National Fund, JEWISHcolorado, Rocky Mountain Rabbis & Cantors, and StandWithUs assesses what must be done immediately; funnels media requests to the right individuals; meets to strategize short- and long-term responses; and assures those directly affected have the support they need. The following statement is from the Colorado Jewish Community Relations Council of which Hillel is an active member: https://www.jewishcolorado.org/jcrc-statement-attack-at-run-for-their-lives-event-in-boulder/
Is there more to do? Absolutely. Hillel of Colorado isn’t the only Jewish nonprofit now reassessing its security procedures – and not only because one of the injured Sunday in Boulder is a former Hillel of Colorado staff member. By mid-August several hundred students will again be gathering weekly at our Hillel Houses across the Front Range. We are committed this summer to working with local law enforcement and our other security partners to ensure we do what we can to create as safe an environment as possible for our students, staff and visitors. Protecting and securing Hillel’s 2,000+ Jewish students, our Jewish future, is at the center of Hillel’s mission.
Crises like this one make us stronger, better. It is likely antisemitic acts will continue, and so we will continue to improve. A year ago, we had too little influence over how our universities addressed antisemitism, and we all saw what the result was last spring! Now, our university leaders listen to Hillel and accept our counsel: not on everything, yet, but it is improving month by month. Two years ago, the coalition we reference above didn’t exist. Now, our Jewish communal partners call us when an antisemitic incident happens on campus, as they know Hillel of Colorado will actively proceed in the best way for our students and the community. A recent example:
Our newest Front Range staffed Hillel campus is The Colorado School of Mines in Golden. While our budget doesn’t yet include funds to staff Mines, Hillel could no longer ignore the real needs of Jewish students post-October 7th at Mines, where two very vocal anti-Zionist campus groups routinely operate beyond free speech and legitimate protest. Last month, when one of those groups prepared to show the “documentary,” Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone (which BBC pulled from distribution because of its one-sided blame of Israel and the narrator’s connection to Hamas) Hillel and our community collation were at our best.
- Coalition partner, IAC director Eldad Malka, discovered the plan through social media contacts while JCRC director Brandon Rattiner learned of the screening through a Mines adjunct employee. Both called us.Immediately, Hillel staff contacted Mines’ Jewish student leaders, who – busying studying for their engineering finals and unaware of the group’s plans – subsequently determined whether this program was sanctioned (it was), and what the university knew of the program’s intent (very little).
- Hillel staff consulted with ADL director Susan Rona and again with Brandon.
- We called our ally, the Mines’ Vice President of Student Life to educate her on what we knew. Together – with the endorsement of our Mines Jewish student leaders and after Mines’ legal counsel weighed in – this plan was implemented:
- The event venue became a classroom on the edge of campus.
- The sponsoring group was told in no uncertain terms that they were prohibited from showing the film, as BBC, with sole rights to film distribution, had prohibited its showing.
- Finally (was this part of a greater plan?) it snowed that May evening and few Mines’ students braved the weather to attend the revised “no film” event.
It’s a small example but this demonstrates a larger reality: with Jewish communal partnerships, university allies, and Hillel’s work within the system, we can make changes. Hillel strongly supports campus free speech within legal guidelines and time and space restrictions – it’s the right thing to do and Jews have long benefitted from American society’s protections and the rule of law – but when antisemitic acts cross the line Hillel will continues to sharpen the new tools we now have at our disposal. Universities can’t eliminate antisemitism, but they can reduce it if they respond as they would to any other form of bigotry.
In light of the recent Boulder attack, may we find the commitment to double down on Hillel of Colorado’s critical mission to assure our 2,000+ Jewish students remain safe – and through Hillel have every opportunity to form and cement lifelong commitments to Jewish life, learning and Israel.
Danny Foster, Hillel Board Chair
Daniel W. Bennett, Hillel Executive Director
PS: Hillel often claims that we train tomorrow’s Jewish leaders. Please kvell with us at what DU Hillel student leader Rachel Bienstock, who graduates this week from DU, wrote on Substack after the DC shooting last month.