Jewish students share their struggles with antisemitism at Pitt
While physical attacks garner the most media attention, many more subtle antisemitic episodes have transpired at Pitt, some Jewish students say

In early December, the University of Pittsburgh’s Faculty Assembly president, Robin Kear, announced the creation of a working group on antisemitism.
Authorized by Pitt’s chancellor and its provost, and in collaboration with the university senate president, the working group is charged with analyzing and helping to address antisemitism on campus.
That such a group is necessary is obvious to numerous Jewish students who have experienced or witnessed various incidents of antisemitism at Pitt for months.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, and the ensuing war, anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment on university campuses around the country have led to feelings of isolation and marginalization for many Jewish students. Some have feared for their safety; at least three Jewish Pitt students were physically assaulted last year.
While the physical attacks garnered the most media attention, many more subtle antisemitic episodes have transpired at Pitt, contributing to an unnerving and at times unwelcoming environment, several Jewish students told the Chronicle.
Those incidents include anti-Zionist messaging coming from some faculty members, leading to feelings of intimidation and exclusion. Last April, for example, 49 faculty members signed a letter to Chancellor Joan Gabel in support of the anti-Israel encampments on Schenley Plaza “to protest ongoing violence in Gaza and to call for University disinvestment from the war on Gaza.”
One-sided perspectives
Olivia Baer is a fourth-year Pitt student majoring in fiction writing. Last fall, she registered for a class in speculative fiction. She was looking forward to the class, but on its first day, she noticed that the assignment for Week 11 was a book called “Palestine Plus 100.”
The book is a collection of writings from 12 Palestinians considering “what might your country look like in the year 2048 — a century after the tragedies and trauma of what has come to be called the Nakba?” according to Amazon.com. “How might this event – which, in 1948, saw the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes – reach across a century of occupation, oppression, and political isolation, to shape the country and its people? Will a lasting peace finally have been reached, or will future technology only amplify the suffering and mistreatment of Palestinians?”
Baer withheld judgment of the assignment, she said, until she got home and viewed a PDF of the book.
“On Page 1, you know, your classic blood libels and genocide and ethnic cleansing,” she said.
Baer withdrew from the class.
“I was not comfortable sitting in a classroom where I knew the professor would teach about the Middle East in a literature class. It was really nothing I was interested in,” she said.
Baer, who grew up in a suburb outside Pittsburgh, said she’s a “huge believer in diplomacy.” So she wrote a letter to the literature professor and copied the vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion.
“What you are doing is propagating the next generation of American antisemites and this is where MORE casualties come into play,” Baer’s letter read, in part. “The statistics show us the surge of antisemitic hate crimes in the United States. Our humanity tells us that we are not helping anyone by distributing and teaching anti-Israel propaganda.
“My Jewish identity is inextricably intertwined with the land of Israel,” Baer’s letter continued. “I attend the University of Pittsburgh for an education. There is no room for the propagation of hate speech in a classroom, and a book which introduces Israel as a country of ‘ethnic cleansing’ is false and insensitive.”
The professor did not respond, Baer said. An assistant from the vice chancellor’s office replied and offered to set up a meeting, but did not follow up with dates that could accommodate Baer’s schedule.
“It’s ironic how these people that are, like, propagators of misinformation have the gusto to put that in their syllabus, but not to have a conversation with a student about it,” Baer said.
She emailed the chancellor, received an acknowledgement from the chancellor’s office later that day, and then a response from the dean of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, which said that “We acknowledge that legally protected speech and expression can, at times, offend, marginalize, and cause distress to some members of our community.” His response also referred to campus resources to help “navigate the complexities that all of us are facing during what can feel like a polarizing and intense time.”
The speculative literature professor is not the only one to bring up the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in class. In Baer’s French class, the professor screened a film about an Israeli boy and a Palestinian boy switched at birth. Baer skipped class that day, but was told by a friend that the discussion afterward focused on the war in Gaza. And in her history of jazz class, a clip of an Al Jazeera documentary was played where a speaker accuses Jews of using their whiteness to oppress Black people, she said.
“When [professors] mentioned the conflict, it is always one-sided, like a pro-Palestinian perspective,” Baer said. “I have never heard a professor or faculty member advocate for Israel or the rights of Jewish people. Sometimes they love to throw something like ‘antisemitism is unwarranted,’ and then say something that undermines what they just said.”
She fears that animosity toward Israel among some faculty members contributes to other troubling incidents on campus.
“Last semester, I took a peek at the encampments because I’m a big believer of, like, go on the ground, see it yourself. Decide how you feel about what’s going on,” she said. “And I watched kids scream into my friends’ faces, ‘Go back to Poland.”
The “normalization of Jew hatred,” she said, “is horrifying.”
Julie Paris, Mid-Atlantic regional director of StandWithUs — a national organization that fights antisemitism and educates about Israel — said several Jewish students in Pittsburgh have reached out to her for support since Oct. 7, 2023.
“Students have reported instances where professors have offered extra credit for attending anti-Israel protests and assigned readings or incorporated materials in class that present a one-sided, anti-Israel view of the conflict, including in courses where the conflict is not part of the curriculum,” Paris said.
“These actions create an environment where students may feel pressured to adopt or align with a particular stance.”
Some students have reported these incidents to the university, but others have chosen not to.
“Sometimes Jewish students feel hesitant to report these incidents or voice their opinions in class because they worry about ostracization or grade retribution,” Paris said. “Some students also do not think that administration would do anything to address the issues, so they decide not to report them.”
The response from the administration varies, Paris explained.
“Some reports are taken seriously, but others seem to go unaddressed. This inconsistency can discourage students from coming forward, as they may feel that their concerns will not lead to meaningful action.”
Faculty play “a significant role” when it comes to shaping campus climate, Paris continued.
“When faculty members share misinformation or present biased views, students may be more likely to internalize these messages, given their trust and credibility. … This can perpetuate a one-sided narrative over time and create an environment where certain viewpoints are implicitly or explicitly marginalized.”
An uncomfortable environment
Some Jewish students at Pitt were dismayed to learn that a professor in the Arabic studies department offered extra credit last semester to students who attended a cultural event co-sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine, an anti-Zionist group that was a central organizer of the 2024 student encampments at U.S. universities. SJP has called for the removal of Jewish groups from campus and held events where Jews were told “Go back to Europe.” SJP has also urged students to support two individuals arrested for spraying antisemitic graffiti on Chabad of Squirrel Hill and a sign outside the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. One of the defendants identifies as a Hamas operative.

A sophomore at Pitt, who asked that her name be withheld, recounted meeting with an adviser in the Global Studies department to discuss studying or taking an internship abroad. When the adviser learned that the student had taken Hebrew classes, she suggested Israel as a possible destination. After the student revealed that she was born in Israel, the adviser’s “demeanor changed,” the student said.
“There was just a shift,” the student said. “And I told her that one of the reasons I wanted to pursue this [Global Studies] certificate was I wanted to bring students together at the University of Pittsburgh with different views and different experiences. That means Israeli and Palestinian people with different opinions, and to have these hard conversations, because I believe that if we avoid having these uncomfortable conversations where people’s opinions differ, and we stay within our comfort zones, that nothing’s going to change.
“And then she said, ‘You’re probably never going to want to see me again after I say this, but you have to acknowledge your privilege as an Israeli before you meet with these people before anything can happen.’ This was my adviser, a staff member at this university, telling me that I had to acknowledge my privilege. I told her that, if anything, I think we should speak more often and have these uncomfortable conversations. But I was barely 19 years old.
“I’ve known people that have passed in this war,” the student continued. “I don’t know how this war has affected [the adviser] personally, but I know it’s affected me very personally. She’s telling me that I have to acknowledge my privilege. At that moment, I was very upset, and I decided that I no longer wanted to pursue the certificate. I didn’t report it, and now I know I should have reported it, but I was a freshman in college, and I felt scared of reporting an adviser, an academic adviser that I would have to be seeing for the next three years.”
Since then, however, she has met with several administrators to complain about various antisemitic incidents on campus. She said she feels “heard” but “not listened to.”
“I believe that anybody who goes against the code of conduct or creates an unsafe space for students needs to face the consequences — it doesn’t matter what side they’re on,” she said. “I can’t necessarily say that they’re not holding certain groups accountable, but we’re definitely not seeing that on our end.”
Another sophomore at Pitt, who asked that his name be withheld, said he enrolled in a Hebrew course last semester, not only because he wants to learn the language, but he “wanted to be in a classroom environment where I felt safe, where I could just learn and not have to worry about if there are classmates who are judging me because I wear a Star of David or because I’m wearing a hostage tag.”
There are some students in his STEM classes, he said, whose social media posts seem to be “very pro-terror, I guess is one way to say it.” One of his classmates posted on social media that “resistance is justified.” Another one “liked” a post by Students for Justice in Palestine that quoted an intifada leader.
“That kind of stuff is alarming to me, because if there are students on campus who align themselves with those views, I just don’t feel safe,” he said.
The student recounted an incident in the library when he left his backpack unattended for a few minutes. When he returned, he saw that someone had tucked a note in its pocket saying, “Free Palestine Pitt Divest Now.”
“It was just like a shocking feeling to me, because, I mean, I always wear a Star of David and a hostage tag,” he said. “So it feels like they had to deliberately see where I put down my stuff, and then write that note and drop it in my bag. I felt like someone was watching me and I had no idea, and I’ve been so alert ever since.”
He recounted another incident where Students for Justice in Palestine members were demonstrating in the library. He and a friend were observing the protest when someone from the group “came up to us and started taking down our descriptions, like in a notebook.”
“It’s really hard,” he said, “and it’s taken a toll on my mental health.”
The student reported the incidents to Pitt officials and filed a police report as well. With regard to the first incident — the note in his backpack — officials scanned security footage but “couldn’t find anything,” he said. With regard to the second incident, he received an email response with a form to file a civil rights complaint, which he has not yet done.
He said he isn’t sure what action he would like to see the university take in response.
“They’ve called for violence against Jews,” he said of the anti-Israel activists. “They’ve targeted Jews. They’ve quoted convicted murderers and terrorists. I don’t know what else has to be done for them to be kicked off of campus. My heart goes out to all the innocent children and men and women in Gaza who are suffering because of this war, but their antisemitic acts on campus are taking away from what they really should be talking about. And it’s just kind of sad because they aren’t the activists that they need to be. By spreading antisemitism and targeting students they aren’t doing that.”
A mechanism to report concerns
Pitt spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said in an email that the university “strives to build and maintain a positive and welcoming environment for every member of our campus community. To help achieve that goal, the University has an established and robust mechanism in place that allows any member of our campus community to report concerns or ask questions.”
The Pitt Concern Connection “enables faculty, staff and students to file a report or ask a question online, by phone or via text message, with the option to remain anonymous.” Additionally, students can “elevate concerns to relevant faculty and staff, such as the department chair if they have questions about a class assignment.”
Emergencies should be reported immediately to the University of Pittsburgh Police Department, he said.
The Office of Compliance, Investigations and Ethics reviews PPC reports and questions, and “assigns the matter to the appropriate area to investigate and respond,” Stonesifer continued. “The University reviews and responds to every concern and provides updates through the PCC.”
At times, however, “only limited information on the outcome of a report may be shared,” such as when disciplinary action is taken.
“In other cases, an incident may be uncomfortable for a student, but protected under federal free speech laws,” Stonesifer said. “In these cases, we strive to connect the student to available resources so that they feel supported and safe.”
He stressed that despite the university’s inability to report confidential results, officials “take each report seriously.”
“It’s also critical to note that given the times we are in, and given the unique nature of reports regarding antisemitism, some reporting takes place outside of formal channels,” Stonesifer said. “That’s one of the reasons why the University has been proactively undertaking antisemitism training for our entire administration — from the Chancellor down to faculty and staff — so that we are better prepared to respond sensitively and to make the appropriate referrals to support services or community partners, as circumstances dictate.” PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachnick@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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