Challenges for Jewish Students on Campus
The past two years have been particularly challenging for Jewish college students, with campuses becoming arenas of polarization rather than places of curiosity and critical exchange.
As upperclassmen at Harvard and McGill, we have witnessed peers feeling trapped between taking a strident side on nuanced conflicts or staying silent and withdrawing from conversations altogether.
Charlie Kirk’s recent assassination has further intensified the polarizing atmosphere, with some seeing his death as proof that civil discourse and free speech are impossible to achieve.
Even before Kirk’s assassination, university administrators were calling for pluralism and increasing investments in dialogue training, recognizing that "dialogue" alone is not enough to fix the issues on campuses.
Author's Summary
Jewish students need more than just dialogue to address campus polarization.