Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) sent a letter to nine university presidents, including President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20, asking the universities to detail their plans to protect Jewish students on Oct. 4.
In the letter, Gottheimer described a “tidal wave of antisemitism across our communities and universities.” He wrote that it is “paramount” that university administrators “take direct action to enforce plans to ensure the safety of Jewish students.”
The University declined to provide comment on whether they planned to address the letter. The Herald was unable to reach Gottheimer for comment.
University Spokesperson Brian Clark told The Herald that “in the event that we receive a letter from an elected official, Brown’s government relations team would assess the letter and then determine how best to manage them depending on the nature of the request.”
In addition to Paxson, the presidents of Rutgers University, Penn, Columbia, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, George Washington University, Harvard, Princeton and New York University all received the letter.
The letter came almost a year after Oct.7, 2023 when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel in a surprise attack. Gottheimer described it as “the worst attack against the Jewish people since the end of the Holocaust.”
Gottheimer cited statistics from the Anti-Defamation League that reported more than 8,800 antisemitic incidents this year in the United States, with almost 60% occuring in the last 3 months, as well as data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation which showed a 63% increase in antisemitic incidents since 2022. The ADL figure has since risen to over 10,000.
This letter comes in the wake of backlash against the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT, who, while testifying before Congress, refused to say that calling for the genocide of the Jewish people would violate their schools’ code of conduct. The incident preceded the resignation of Liz Magill and Claudine Gay from Penn and Harvard, respectively.
Brooke Verschleiser ’25, president of Brown Students for Israel, wrote in a message to the Herald that, “given the drastic increase in antisemitism around the world and on our campus since October 7th, I’m pleased to see that attention is still being brought to this issue.”
She added that it’s important to her that universities “are held accountable for protecting all their students, and I’m glad to see steps being taken in that direction.”
Kate Butts is a senior staff writer covering University Hall. Outside of The Herald, she loves running, board games and Trader Joe's snacks.
