I am not Palestinian or Jewish, but I can still divide my four years at Northwestern into the time before and after Oct. 7, 2023. With whatever perspective I have now as a senior humanities student preparing to confront an increasingly authoritarian world, I believe that day was the moment when we as students had to look beyond ourselves and consider our place as part of both a university community and a politically precarious world.

If we want our education to truly matter, it is crucial we consider the effects of our actions beyond the Canvas gradebook and our internship prospects. So, I am disheartened by the stream of voices lately telling me that I should just bite the bullet and take the so-called “antisemitism training.”

The rationale I have read in this newspaper and heard from faculty usually recognizes the shortcomings and even malice of the training before insisting that boycotters should “grow up.” I appreciated Talia Winiarsky’s column earlier this month, particularly her insistence that “learning doesn’t necessitate agreement,” but can “build a sense of understanding.” She also criticizes portions of the training and writes, “if it were up to me, the training would have been created with input from professors and been treated with more scholarly rigor.”

But the training’s lack of sources, erasure of Palestinian history and conflation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism is illustrative of a much larger problem: The University did not consult our school community and is not responding to our needs with this training. They attempted to outsource the duties of responsible citizenship to the Jewish United Fund, an avowedly Zionist organization disconnected from campus life.

Winiarsky’s concerns about antisemitism are real. So are the concerns of Jewish Voice for Peace, which has repeatedly expressed to University officials that this training “vilifies, slanders and outlaws pro-Palestine speech,” “ostracizes anti-Zionist Jews (including many in our campus community)” and “requires students to adopt the position that there is no room for anti-Zionism among Jews.”

That is why JVP held its own antisemitism training at the beginning of this year — one that also combats the defamation of anti-Zionist Jewish students who are not only excluded but demonized by the JUF training.

And let’s not forget that this training was also meant to combat anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias in our community. So why did NU contract with the generic British firm Inclusion Expert instead of a reputable group countering anti-Muslim bias in the Chicago area, such as the Council of Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago?

These questions have an easy answer for anyone paying attention. NU is not looking out for Jewish students, and it’s not looking out for Muslim students — it’s looking out for itself. This training, coupled with the removal of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion information from University websites, is the Board of Trustees’ attempt to appeal to an audience of one: President Donald Trump.

Trump doesn’t want diversity or debate. He wants everyone to think like him. He fantasizes about reshaping this university, and higher education more broadly, into a tool of far-right extremists and white Christian nationalists. I am sure Winiarsky already knows this about the man who said there were “some very fine people on both sides” at the 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

I am also certain that political science and African Studies Prof. Jeff Rice knows this, but he came out swinging in his column: “Today you risk the present and future of NU as a producer of knowledge, much of which is lifesaving.  Do you want to contribute to Trump closing down this university?”

This is an argument that only a privileged few can make. Maybe if you’re a white American citizen or you’re studying a so-called “apolitical” discipline, loss of funding really is the greatest threat to your well-being.

But for trans students like me, giving in to Trump’s demands will ultimately mean that we are not welcome at this institution. For scholars who study race or climate, their work will be neglected, if not prosecuted.

For international students and students of color, these attempts at appeasement are the beginning of the end. Anyone who studies fascism can tell you that Trump’s demands will only become more extreme, no matter how NU responds now.

This is not the time to be silent. Despite the University’s attempts to rewrite the history of the Deering encampment, that peaceful demonstration was part of a broader movement that swayed public opinion in ways that contributed to the ceasefire deal on the table now. These negotiations offer hope for the remaining families in Gaza and the Israeli hostages returning home.

But for students who saw NU’s complicity in what can now be confidently called genocide, it is infuriating to be recast as the aggressors in this debate. Now, as then, please use your voice to fight fascism. Our university depends on it.

Emerson Steady is a Communication senior. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Related Stories:

— Talia’s Take: Do the antisemitism training

— Rice: Don’t follow leaders, watch your parking meters

— Letter to the Editor: We support NU students boycotting the ‘Anti-Bias’ training