Editor’s Note: The following is an article originally published on RealClear Education on June 5, 2025. With edits to match Minding the Campus’s style guidelines, it is crossposted here with permission.
For generations, my Russian family’s Jewish identity was systematically silenced. When we immigrated to Boca Raton, Florida, it felt like beginning a new chapter—one where I could proudly embrace my heritage as a Jewish Biomedical Engineering student at an American university. But now, I find myself once again being pressured to choose between my Jewish identity and my future. I will not make that choice.
With federal funding holds, my laboratory bears the cost of anti-Semitism on campus. Rather than rallying behind me, my peers scoff: “You wanted consequences—what did you expect?”—as if I must choose: my faith or a career?
My education is constantly disrupted by confronting the contempt aimed at Jews on this campus. Jewish students want and deserve real solutions from leadership, not reckless policies that only fuel the growing anti-Semitic fire. Addressing anti-Semitism requires targeted action against anti-Semites, not sweeping measures that leave Jewish students more isolated than before. And yet, I am forced to advocate for myself and other students because my university refuses to.
On April 14, the second night of Passover, a high holiday, Kresge Centennial Hall, housing the Holocaust Educational Foundation and Center for Jewish and Israel Studies, was heinously vandalized with typical anti-Semitic slogans: “death to Israel,” “intifada now,” topped off with swastikas and red triangles. As of mid-May, no disciplinary action has been announced.
Was the offender unidentifiable, or did Northwestern stop looking?
The festivities continued as Jewish students were ignored, unlike the support given to other marginalized groups. During Passover, I walked from the library to the cafeteria, and I found that the Kosher area I was counting on was closed. Northwestern deemed cost-cutting to be more important than my ability to have dinner. Jewish students pay the same dollars for meal plans as everyone else, yet accommodating students was not on the administration’s list of priorities that week.
On April 30, Yom Ha-atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, Sarge dining hall advertised an official event for the Arab Culture Celebration dance group. What was advertised as an innocent cultural performance quickly revealed a disturbing message: dancers in military uniforms waved Palestinian flags, and the backs of their shirts showed the outline of Israel, crossed out with a line. When questioned, the group’s manager, clearly media-trained, claimed they couldn’t find other flags or outfits. Yet, the group later admitted they had performed in these same costumes at over 150 events.
Northwestern University responded with performative concern following the Federal Funding Freeze. President Michael Schill’s most recent mass email on May 1 characterizes the issue as “deeply troubling” but ignores the core issue, with no mention of the words ‘Jew,’ ‘Israel,’ or ‘antisemitism.’ There have been no meaningful reforms since the grant freeze. Antisemitism on campus has only escalated, with the Kresge vandalism and the Sarge anti-Israel performance both occurring after the funding cuts.
Anti-zionism is an expression of anti-Semitism. Of the 613 commandments at the heart of Jewish law, only 135 can be practiced outside the State of Israel. The nation’s constitution is designed to protect Jewish practice.
[RELATED: The Chicago Principles Took a Sick Day at UChicago’s Anti-Semitism Roundtable]
The administration’s silence isn’t neutral; it is dangerous. The university is so desperate to appear unbiased that it has created an environment where antisemitism isn’t punished but instead, normalized. On May 5-6, I traveled to Washington, D.C., with CAAN—Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern—to meet with federal representatives and explain why Israel matters. I felt compelled to express that while I’m grateful for efforts to combat hate through funding cuts, their attempts were ultimately ineffective.
I’m exhausted from justifying my existence and defending my peers. So I say this to federal leaders: don’t let up. Keep the pressure on. What’s happening at Northwestern is a warning to every Jewish student across America. This is not about politics—it’s about safety, truth, and basic human dignity.
We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking for the same rights, respect, and protection every other student expects. Name the problem. Fight the problem. That’s how change begins.
Image: “The arch at Northwestern University” by beautifulcataya on Flickr
