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Antisemitism watchdog group gives Stanford a "C" for campus climate
A watchdog group tracking antisemitism on college campuses has released its annual report and two Bay Area colleges made the list. Stanford University received a letter grade ‘C’ and San Francisco State received a ‘D’ for the level of antisemitism experienced on campus.
PALO ALTO, Calif. - A watchdog group tracking antisemitism on college campuses has released its annual report and two Bay Area colleges made the list.
Stanford University received a letter grade ‘C’ and San Francisco State received a ‘D’ for the level of antisemitism experienced on campus.
On Wednesday, Stop Antisemitism released its annual report based on information from 25 colleges across the country. It’s written in a report-card style format, grading how hate incidents against Jewish people are identified, handled and how safe students feel.
"I had an antisemitic incident where somebody essentially called me a dirty Jew, and the University has done nothing about this," said Kevin Feigelis, a Stanford PhD student.
Since October, college campuses across the country have become battlegrounds for supporters on both sides of the war in Gaza.
Watchdog group Stop Antisemitism says it surveyed 1,400 Jewish students at 25 colleges and 79% say they’ve experienced antisemitism on campus.
Kevin Feigelis is a Jewish PhD student at Stanford.
"A kid, literally in my face, called me what amounts to a dirty Jew and all of us, as dirty Jews," said Feigelis, a Stanford PhD student. "And the university has not responded as they would to any other minority group. S they’re not even doing the bare minimum. They’re not even putting up security cameras here," said Feigelis.
Stanford was one of five elite schools mentioned in the report.
It received a ‘C’ grade, while San Francisco State received a ‘D’ on the list of public universities. The categories measured included level of protection, allyship, identity and campus policy.
"So, if the university doesn’t take care of it, then the Jewish community needs to, then Congress needs to, and good people need to. But it’s time for universities to wake up. This is very serious," said Rabbi Dov Greenberg, from Chabad at Stanford.
College Presidents from Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT testified about the rise of antisemitism before congress Tuesday and how it’s being addressed. On Wednesday night, Hindu students at Stanford joined Jewish students for a gathering in White Memorial Plaza.
"Whenever issues have come up, they’ve always stood with us, and we’ve always stood with them. So, we just hope to celebrate that friendship and preserve the future," said Rutvij Holay, a Stanford student.
Rabbi Greenberg also says there was an incident of a professor at Stanford singling out a Jewish student in class and many students told him they’re afraid to identify as Jewish on campus.
KTVU reached out to Stanford University for comment but didn’t hear back from them in time for this report.