I have been closely watching the Trump administration’s newfound interest in fighting antisemitism. Its version apparently consists of cracking down on Ivy League universities like Columbia and Harvard – pulling grants, accompanied by threats to yank their tax-exempt status and impose new taxes on their endowments. As a Jew and a child of holocaust refugees, I say to them: “Not on my behalf, please.”
This is not to say that I support the behavior that we have seen on college campuses. The protests were unlawful, and the weak responses of college administrators were shameful. Jewish students had their rights violated while the protesters faced little or no consequences. Unacceptable.
The question is what to do about it. As a graduate of two of these private educational institutions, I have made my opinion known to them. Changes have already been made and things are heading in a better direction. But my message to the GOP is: “spare me the highly selective outrage on my behalf.”
We now have the executive branch of the federal government using the fight against antisemitism as an excuse to force the replacement of the previous culture of campus “wokeness” with their own more conservative ideology. The administration’s intrusive demands on Harvard include required changes in how the university operates, who it hires and which students it will accept, all of which will supposedly be subject to federal oversight.
It must become an arm of the federal government law enforcement, compelled to report any conduct violation by an immigrant student. It must satisfy the administration that the student body, faculty, staff, leadership and each department, field and teaching unit, has a sufficiently “diverse” composition.
This government intrusion into higher education is a dangerous and slippery slope that we have seen before. It’s the pathway that eventually forced my parents to flee their homes, and (thankfully) find a new life in a welcoming America.
To say that the president’s outrage against antisemitism is selective is an understatement. This is the same man that, in 2017, said the white nationalists and neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, included “some very fine people.” This after a confrontation that ended in the death of one woman and injuries to dozens.
In late March, the administration stopped funding a national database tracking domestic terrorism, hate crimes and school shootings. But the administration is not blind to all forms of domestic terrorism. Those setting Teslas on fire will face maximum punishment.
For the Trump administration, antisemitism is simply a convenient tool with which to bludgeon those collegiate bastions of liberalism and wokeness. It seeks to substitute one doctrine with their own preferred version.
I say good for Harvard for standing up for its intellectual freedom. Yes, there is plenty it can and needs to do to broaden its outlook and be more welcoming for people of all religions and beliefs (political or otherwise). But the last thing we need is for the federal government to dictate what it should do or how it should think.
My message to President Donald Trump and his GOP supporters: You’re not doing this on my behalf. You don’t have a mandate from me. Jews have legitimate concerns regarding our ability to live in safety. There are lots of individuals and groups out there that who us harm, such as the arsonist that recently torched the house of the governor of Pennsylvania. But please don’t warp these concerns into a tool for your overreaching attempts to force American society into a template more to your liking. Many of us don’t support it.
Larry Gross is a nationally recognized supply chain analyst living full-time in Durango.
