Jewish students at Pitt’s School of Medicine face anti-Israel, antisemitic rhetoric
“I got called a lot of names. Someone called me racist...people would look at me with disgust and disdain."
At a recent meeting of the University of Pittsburgh’s Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Advocacy Committee, Dr. Barton Branstetter spoke about some of the antisemitic acts that have occurred in the university’s School of Medicine since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel.
“Social media that were critically important to the pre-clinical students were bombarded with frankly antisemitic posts, including images of a bloody Star of David and the caption ‘Bad Religion,’” he recounted to meeting attendees.
The remarks came during an EIDAC meeting discussing the possible creation of an ad-hoc committee to investigate antisemitism on campus. Branstetter, a professor of radiology, otolaryngology and biomedical informatics, is in favor of the committee, and said that Pitt’s antisemitism problem reaches beyond its undergraduate program.
“I wanted this group to know that this problem transcends schools,” he said.
Branstetter told the Chronicle that antisemitic incidents occurred student-to-student and haven’t involved the staff, professors or administrators.
The antisemitic social media posts, he explained, occurred in a group chat the pre-clinical medical students use during the two years they’re primarily in an academic setting. The chat is supposed to be used to help students prepare for class, exchange homework notes and references. It is not a part of the curriculum and is not sponsored or facilitated by the university.
As such, he explained, there is no university oversight, but it has become an essential tool medical students use to communicate important educational topics with one another.
That chat was compromised shortly after Oct. 7.
“Two students started posting inflammatory messages,” Branstetter said. “Then there was this dog pile effect where people who don’t know much about the situation just want to seem supportive of the people who claim to be hurt, and it escalated.”
The posts became increasingly antisemitic, he said, until there were some that “indicated violent intent against all Jews.”
Branstetter said that while no individual was directly targeted or threatened, Jewish students felt unsafe.
“They were afraid,” he said.
While he understands the mob mentality that often occurs on social media — people “like” posts because they see others “liking” a post — Jewish students saw the majority of their classmates agreeing with “threatening and flagrantly antisemitic” posts.
When the posts were brought to the attention of the medical school’s administration, Branstetter said the administration recommended that Jewish students leave the group. That would have undermined their education, Branstetter noted.
The administration next created an official forum which it facilitated. Many of the Jewish students moved to the new group but most of the class did not.
Another concerning incident occurred at the medical students’ “pinning ceremony” — which celebrates students completing the academic part of their study and moving to the clinical portion. During the ceremony, one of the senior medical students grabbed an open microphone and went on an “antisemitic tirade, implying that you can’t be a real doctor if you support Israel,” Branstetter said. “It was horrific and nobody stopped it.”
Many in the room, he said, looked uncomfortably at the Jewish students.
Branstetter understands that the shock of the moment may have prevented immediate intervention, but he is disappointed with the administration’s silence following the outburst — which the senior posted on his Instagram page. An appropriate reaction, Branstetter said, would have been an email from the administration apologizing for what happened.
While he understands the university’s respect for free speech, the administration nonetheless should have publicly rebuked the outburst, Branstetter said.
A third-year medical student, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution by the administration and fellow students, said the chat group — which had never been home to political discourse — became uncomfortable for Jewish students almost immediately after Oct. 7.
“People have been very, very vocal,” the student said. “It started as pro-Palestine and quickly turned to anti-Israel. The words being used are very aggressive. They throw ‘genocide’ and ‘Zionism’ around in a very negative context.”
The comments, the student said, have left no room for conversation or nuance.
“If you’re not pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel, you’re a bad person,” they said.
The student deleted the app, which led to a sort of isolation from information and community.
“I don’t get information about upcoming lunch talks or actual news that’s important to the school,” the student said.
Because Jewish students attend classes with the people creating the posts, the only option to maintain a healthy learning environment is to ignore the posts, the student said.
And when Jewish students spoke out and the administration created the university-facilitated chat group, the Jewish students were demonized.
“People were like, ‘The Jewish students did this. They’re trying to take away our free speech,’” the student said.
The pinning ceremony, they said, was egregious as well. Several students wore keffiyehs.
The student believes the outburst by the senior medical student was preplanned, given that it was recorded and posted to social media.
“There should have been no place for that at our white coat ceremony,” they said. “It’s not the place for that and the school did nothing about it. They said, ‘It’s his right, free speech.’”
The anti-Israel events at the medical school came at same time students and outside agitators were setting up protests and encampments at the university. The Jewish student said it’s been tough to endure.
“I got called a lot of names. Someone called me racist,” they said. “I couldn’t focus because I could tell there were people talking negatively about me behind my back. It was clear when I entered a space, because we all used to take exams together. People would look at me with disgust and disdain.”
The student said the stress caused them to uncharacteristically flunk a test. They contacted the school and said they were taking a few personal days. The school was sympathetic. Still, they said, “it was impossible to be in that environment.”
The end result was more isolation.
“I stopped studying at school. We had a big exam in April, and as soon as they gave us time to study, I left the state. I was like, I’m out, I’m done. It’s been hard,” they said.
In a written statement to the Chronicle, a spokesperson for Pitt said that the university “unequivocally condemns antisemitism,” citing two recent examples: A forum on combatting antisemitism held for students, faculty and staff on Oct. 29, and a training session for faculty and staff on Dec. 5, meant to deepen their understanding of the roots of antisemitism and equip the university community to respond effectively to bias incidents.
“While individual student conduct matters are not addressed publicly, all reports of bias incidents are taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and appropriate steps are taken to foster an environment where every member of the Pitt community feels welcomed, safe and respected,” Pitt’s statement read.
The statement concluded by affirming the university’s commitment to upholding free speech and helping students learn how to constructively engage with others on difficult topics. More information, it said, can be found at freespeech.pitt.edu.
The Jewish medical school student said they appreciate the university’s attempts to condemn antisemitism. They attended the October session and found it worthwhile.
Still, “This isn’t what I signed up for,” they said. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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