FAQs for Parents of College Jewish Students

Navigating Educational Spaces After the First Anniversary of October 7 

With the passing of the first anniversary of the October 7th Hamas terror attacks, and as we enter year two of the ensuing multi-front war between Israel and Iran-backed terrorist groups, college campuses in the U.S. show few signs of quieting down. Parents of Jewish students in higher education spaces often find themselves hearing about situations their children face without knowing how best to navigate them.

It is utterly unacceptable for any student to endure antisemitism on campus. The Center for Education Advocacy at American Jewish Committee (AJC) is committed to providing constructive guidance for education leaders, students, and their parents to build educational spaces that are resilient against antisemitism. This guide offers practical advice and resources for parents of Jewish college students, empowering them to address concerns effectively and support their children's well-being.

Our first piece of advice, no matter the incident under question, is for parents of Jewish students to ask themselves a few key questions: 

• Is my child currently safe?
• Am I sure that the information I have is accurate?
• How can I help my child so they have the support and resources they need to act in the most constructive, effective way possible?
• Does the situation merit or require my advocacy beyond supporting my student?

Question: 
My child was the victim of an antisemitic incident on campus. What should I do?

Answer: 

First and foremost, ensure that your child is physically and emotionally safe. If your child needs physical or emotional assistance and is unable to contact appropriate university officials themselves, do so for your child. If your child is able to report the incident, encourage them to do so as quickly as possible. If your child is not able to do so, ask if you can report the incident on their behalf. At a minimum, antisemitic incidents should be reported to the university through the university portal for reporting bias, as well as with Hillel and Chabad on campus. When appropriate (in the case of violence or a possible hate crime), it is critical to report to law enforcement and Secure Community Network (SCN), the official safety initiative of the organized Jewish community in North America. If you find that the university is not appropriately responding to the antisemitic incident, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Question: 
I heard about an antisemitic incident at my child’s college/university. What should I do?

Answer: 

First confirm the veracity of the incident. You can look for public statements from the local Hillel or Chabad to ensure that you have accurate information and find out how the university is responding. (Please note that anything AJC posts on our social media channels has been confirmed and is factually accurate.) Encourage your child to ask Hillel/Chabad if the incident has been reported through official university channels and, if appropriate, to law enforcement. Encourage your child to join Jewish student efforts to raise awareness about antisemitism on campus and to communicate with administrators about the impact of antisemitism on campus on their emotional health, feelings of belonging, and ability to successfully navigate college life. Your child should encourage Hillel to share AJC guidance with university administrators when they follow up with the university to ensure that the perpetrator was caught and appropriate disciplinary consequences followed. Note: due to federal privacy laws (FERPA), the university cannot share specific disciplinary actions taken against specific students, but it can share whether and when appropriate actions have been taken.    

Question: 
My child’s college or university is handling an issue related to campus protests poorly. What should I do?

Answer:

If your child has raised a concern with you, encourage your student to take the lead and self-advocate. Their first point of contact should be Hillel and/or Chabad on campus to see how the organized Jewish community on campus is responding and what they can do to join efforts. They can also email [email protected] to receive expert guidance from our campus affairs professionals. If you know about the issue from a parent’s WhatsApp or Facebook group, confirm the details with your child first. If your child is not particularly upset about the situation, or presents a different picture than the one you are hearing from fellow parents, avoid projecting your own concerns onto your child. Let your child guide the conversation and response. Refrain from contacting university administrators directly unless you have a preexisting relationship. Because university administrators typically prefer to hear from students rather than parents, you can encourage your child to reach out to the Dean of Student Affairs. If you are very concerned and do not think your student will engage on the issue, connect with Jewish organizations on campus like Hillel or Chabad. For AJC guidance on how universities should handle protests, please click here and here.  

Question:

My child’s professor behaved in a highly inappropriate fashion (e.g., by canceling class so students could attend an anti-Israel protest, holding class in an encampment, or devoting class time in a course that is unrelated to the conflict in the Middle East to anti-Israel discourse). My child is very upset but they are afraid to speak up due to the possibility of repercussions from the professor. How can I help my child?

Answer:

Professors should not be engaging in any of these behaviors. The first two are inserting inappropriately political and biased stances into their classrooms. In addition to the inappropriateness of a professor taking a stand on a political issue by holding class in an encampment, lecture halls and classrooms are required to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Holding class in an encampment could make learning inaccessible for those students, which would violate accessibility laws. And lastly, academic freedom does not extend to using class time to pontificate about issues that are unrelated to the subject of the class. Your child should report this behavior through the university portal for reporting bias and discriminatory behavior. While it is understandable that your child might be hesitant to do so for fear of reprisal, such behavior cannot be stopped unless it is reported. If your child experiences any reprisal or possible reprisal, that should be reported as well. In addition, your child should make Hillel and Chabad aware that this happened. They may have similar stories from other Jewish students which is important in presenting a full picture to the administration. If your child’s college does not appropriately address the issue, or if your child experiences reprisal from the professor, please contact us at [email protected]. 

Question:
How do I know when a protest happening on campus crosses the line of protected free speech?  

Answer: 

Campus protests are part of a long and important tradition in America that expresses a vital freedom to give voice to perspectives that may be unpopular or even offensive. Universities are fiercely protective of students’ rights to protest because universities are spaces that have long been associated with the freedom to speak truth to power and openly debate ideas. 

With this in view, it is equally vital and constitutionally required that campus protests take place in a way that balances protesters’ right to express themselves and the rights of all students to learn, live, and pursue normal university activities free from harassment, discrimination, and violence. Administrators are obligated to clarify and enforce the rules on protests and do so in an even-handed, content-neutral way, meaning that standards of conduct must be applied evenly to all students and groups without prioritizing or favoring one perspective, identity, or community.

Whether or not the event or speech is protected free speech, if it targets Jewish students or promotes antisemitism, it may warrant action or opposition. Use campus resources, like Hillel, to help assess the situation.

Information you will need to know to determine whether protest speech is protected under the first amendment:

• Is your child’s school private or public?
  Public universities and colleges are constitutionally required to allow all forms of speech protected under the First Amendment, including hate speech. Private universities and colleges, however, are allowed to  impose additional restrictions on permissible speech. Learn more about your child’s school’s approach to these issues by reviewing their code of conduct and taking into account whether the school is public or private.

  If the university is private and has created prohibitions against offensive speech that target marginalized communities on campus, it is also obligated to do the same for Jewish students. Some campuses adhere to the “Chicago standard,” meaning that even at a private institution, they allow for the broadest possible notion of free speech, including hate speech. Other campuses place limits around forms of messaging that are permissible on campus, from posters to protest-chants. It is vital to understand the rules in place on your student’s campus so that you and your child can assess whether Jewish students are being treated fairly within the university’s existing regulatory structure.

• Was the protest in keeping with university “time, place, and manner” restrictions?
  Many universities and colleges have updated their codes of conduct to reflect the changing landscape of campus protests and have added universal time, place, and manner (TPM) restrictions, such as: students cannot use a megaphone to shout slogans after 8pm, or cannot protest inside university buildings. Some universities require all protests to take place in a specific space on campus designated for protest. In addition to time, place, and manner restrictions that apply to all protests on campus, some universities require student groups to receive a permit from the university to hold a protest. Those permits can impose additional TPM restrictions. Consult codes of conduct and regulations on protests, which can usually be accessed on the university’s website.
  

• Did the speech in question incite violence according to the term’s legal definition?
  Speech used during protests can often be hateful and even potentially incite violence. It is important to remember that hate speech, however objectionable, is protected free speech under the First Amendment. Speech that incites violence is never acceptable, but First Amendment law has a very narrow definition of the type of incitement required to restrict the right to free speech. In order to be banned, inciting speech must incite or be likely to incite “immediate lawless action” against a specific person or group. A great deal of the speech we might find offensive or even fear-inducing does not meet this standard of incitement and therefore is still protected free speech.

If your child hears speech inside or outside of protests, in-person or online, that threatens individuals on campus or targets Jews for imminent violence in their community, encourage them to notify campus authorities and law enforcement immediately.

Question:
What resources can I use to help my child and their school better understand antisemitism and support Jewish students?

Answer: 
AJC’s Center for Education Advocacy produces several resources for university administrators, college students, and their parents, including:

• For College Students and Their Parents: CLICK HERE
  
  
  • Guidance for Jewish Students on Campus
  • How to Be An Advocate on Social Media: Guide for the Community
  • How to Engage on Social Media: Guide for Jewish Teens
• For Administrators and Faculty: CLICK HERE
  
  
  • Action Plan for University Administrators
  • College & University Presidents Summit: Call to Action
  • Guidance for University Admin on First Anniversary of October 7
  • What Universities Should be Doing Right Now
  • Educational Programs for Higher Education Spaces
  • 5 Year Calendar of Major Holidays + Guide to Jewish Religion & Culture

All of the materials above (and more!) can be found on AJC’s Crisis on Campus Resource Hub.

AJC has 25 regional offices throughout the United States. If you have further questions, we are happy to connect you to the regional office closest to your school to discuss incidents or ways we can assist. Email us at [email protected].