Northwestern will create a new committee aiming to combat antisemitism and hate, University President Michael Schill announced in a message to the community Monday.
Kellogg Prof. Efraim Benmelech and School of Education and Social Policy Dean Bryan Brayboy will chair the President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate — which will be made up of students, staff, faculty, alumni and trustees — according to the Monday message.
In his email, Schill said the committee will focus on stopping antisemitism as well as hate directed toward other groups, including Palestinian students. Additionally, it will work with Schill, the provost and the community as a whole to promote learning and dialogue about the conflict.
The message is Schill’s fifth to the community since the militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Since then, the Israeli military has responded with a continuous bombardment, blockage and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, while about 1,200 Israelis were killed in the initial attack, according to Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Schill pointed to several recent and upcoming events hosted by NU staff and faculty aimed at facilitating dialogue around the war, including a conversation with author Nathan Thrall, co-hosted by the Middle East and North African Studies Program and the Medill School of Journalism last week.
“Such discussions are not easy, but they are essential,” Schill wrote in the message. “They showcase how our Northwestern community can come together to examine the world’s most pressing problems — a function of our University that is as important today as at any point in our history.”
Schill reiterated his call for civil discourse and informed dialogue — as he shared in several messages to the community over the last month — discouraging the doxxing or shaming of those with opposing beliefs.
Schill said that the University “will not stand” for antisemitism or discriminatory acts directed at anyone, based on “race, religion, national origin or other protected categories.” He also called on the community “to emphatically reject statements or banners that significant parts of our community interpret as promoting murder and genocide.”
He specifically cited flying flags associated with Hamas or banners featuring the slogan “From the River to the Sea” — a phrase long used by pro-Palestine activists as a call for liberation for Palestinians across the region but seen by some Jews as a demand for the destruction of Israel, according to NPR.
“I want to assure you that the University is committed to providing a safe, welcoming environment for everyone in our community, through measures both visible and, in many cases, unseen,” Schill wrote in the message.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @jacob_wendler
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