We, the undersigned alumni and community members of Rutgers University, an institution that boasts the largest Jewish population of students at a public university in the United States, want to begin by thanking you for taking the concerns of Jewish students, their parents, and Rutgers Alumni seriously by showing an interest in the rise of antisemitism and anti-Zionism on Rutgers campuses since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. We know how committed you are to keeping the campus safe and maintaining Rutgers as a special place for learning. We believe that this is possible, but not without some fundamental changes which we will describe below. We request the Rutgers University administration seriously consider our suggestions to help eliminate the current climate of hate and academic anarchy that exists on campus and to return the school to the academically honest and ethical educational setting it once was. We are requesting a meeting with the university administration to discuss our concerns and ideas.

1. Ban student organizations that violate the Code of Student Conduct. “…the First Amendment does not protect behavior on campus that crosses the line into targeted harassment or threats, or that creates a pervasively hostile environment for vulnerable students.” – ACLU

Many of the student organizations that promote anti-Israel bias and a hostile campus environment outwardly glorify violence, antisemitism, murder, terrorism, and hate by chanting slogans that borderline, if not outright cross the lines of harassment, such as “From the River to the Sea.” This particular phrase calls for ethnic cleansing and the eradication of Jews and of the State of Israel, which arguably violates the Code of Student Conduct’s policy prohibiting bullying, intimidation, and/or harassment. 

Chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) have been banned at Brandeis University, Columbia University, George Washington University and have been deactivated at public Florida universities in connection with National SJP leadership’s support of Hamas’s attack on Israel. While we appreciate Rutgers SJP’s suspension, the group must be permanently banned. Since its reinstatement in January 2024, the group continues to call 10/7 “justified” and held a “press conference” where a student speaker said “long live the intifada” and “globalize the intifada.” Supporting terrorism and using phrases that call for violence against Jews must also violate Rutgers’ Code of Student Conduct’s policy prohibiting bullying, intimidation, and/or harassment.

2. Reestablish a balanced political atmosphere on campus.

a. Remind professors that antisemitism, bullying, and anti-Israel propaganda fall outside the scope of academic freedom.

Reinforce to your faculty and class instructors of their responsibilities not to abuse their significant power and privilege over their students. The delegitimization of Israel has been a growing phenomenon on American college campuses for the last 25 years. Inform instructors that the following activities fall outside the scope of academic freedom and may lead to consequences by the university:
- Intrusion of political material unrelated to their course;
- Misuse of classroom time for political indoctrination;
- Providing grades without appropriate student achievement;
- Canceling classes, office hours, and exams for politically motivated reasons; intimidation, threats, or exclusion of students; and misuse of faculty power and authority to coerce the judgment or conscience of a student or to cause harm to a student;
- Using university intellectual property, including but not limited to university trademarks, social media portals, and listservs to espouse anti-Israel or antisemitic biases

b. Counter the misinformation, antisemitism, and anti-Zionism that has been promulgated by professors, students, and organizations.

Organize and support frequent positive Israeli and Jewish-related courses, information sessions, conferences, and celebrations on the campus for students, parents of students, and staff. Although May is Jewish American month and a prime time for such activities, year-round would be better.

3. Reimagine and revamp all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and training programs on antisemitism. Said information is to become a part of freshman orientation and to be provided by sources approved by on-campus Jewish organizations, with guidance from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and leading Jewish academic authorities.

4. Partner with existent organizations such as Hillel, Chabad, the ADL, Alums for Campus Fairness, and the Maccabee Task Force, among others, in the above efforts.

Respectfully yours,

Antisemitism Task Force, Rutgers Chapter of Alums for Campus Fairness
Concerned Rutgers Alumni
Concerned Rutgers Students
Concerned Parents and Grandparents of Rutgers Students
Concerned NJ Taxpayers

Note: We thank ACF-Cornell for a portion of the above wording.