Fill out the form to send a letter to The University of Illinois Leadership to urge them to support Jewish students on campus
See letter below
I am a parent of Alpha Epsilon Pi – the International Jewish Fraternity – at the University of Illinois. For the past five months, tensions on campus have reached a boiling point that has led to Jewish students no longer feeling as though the University of Illinois is a safe place to live or obtain an education. The targeting of members of the Jewish community, and antisemitic rhetoric veiled as anti-Israel sentiment, have become commonplace at this university. Many of these antisemitic events have been perpetrated by the organization Students for Justice in Palestine UIUC, an organization that has recently been re-recognized by this institution.
This administration must create a campus environment where Jewish students can feel safe and proud to be a part of. To do this, I urge the university administration to keep a watchful eye on Students for Justice in Palestine as we as Jews time and time again have seen this organization go from utilizing free speech to hate speech. Additionally, we urge you to take the following steps to ensure the needs of Jewish students are met on this campus.
1. Adjudicate and enforce your student conduct code through a lens of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Definition of Antisemitism. This is the benchmark definition of antisemitism recognized by both the organized Jewish community and the Department of Education.
2. Meet with the Jewish student leaders of Alpha Epsilon Pi, to hear the concerns of students on campus and create a plan to work together to ensure that the University of Illinois can be a safe place for all religious minorities.
3. Engage with representatives of the AEPi Antisemitism Response Center (AEPi ARC) at [email protected] to speak further about resources that you may need to bolster your efforts, train your staff, or better understand the position of Jewish students.
I earnestly request that you take this matter seriously in an effort to protect our campus and community. I look forward to hearing back from you and scheduling an in-person meeting to discuss this matter further. This type of bigotry and hatred has no place anywhere, let alone at the University of Illinois.