Sophia Witt, executive vice president of Students Supporting Isreal, tells AFN there are mixed perspectives on the topic of Jewish families sending their students to Ivy League schools like Columbia.
"On one hand, there are individuals who are eager to enter the Ivy League space and reclaim them to make sure that there's a Jewish presence and leadership in the diaspora and that Jews aren't diminished from those spaces,” Witt says. “On the other hand, there's a concern that by carving out a very visible Jewish space, we might unintentionally become targets."
She said that would increase the risk of anti-Semitism in these targeted areas and targeted campuses.
"So, it's really a choice between standing proud or protecting our community, which is really an unfair choice that a parent has to make on this matter," explains Witt.
She gave an example of a family she knows in Florida.
“They were deciding on whether or not to send their daughter to Harvard. She got into Harvard, as many Jewish students do,” Witt tells. “Harvard, Yale, Columbia – these are schools that have the highest reputation in the education system, and yet have the highest level of anti-Semitism, which is alarming."
Witt said the parents asked her what they should do.
"Do we send our daughter to a local Florida school where we know she's going to be safe and protected, or do we send her to a higher education level where she's a target for anti-Semitism? And this is a serious choice that they have to make," informs Witt.
She said it really is an internal struggle.
"There's no answer for this from someone like me. Because on one hand, I want to say ‘don't eliminate Jews from these spaces, don't take them from the spaces,’ because this is exactly what they want. They want Jewish people out of higher education, they want us out of visible spaces, and that diminishes Jewish presence everywhere,” Witt states.
Witt continues by saying this really is a moral battle that parents have to face, and she doesn’t envy them for having to make this decision.
"It really is coming down to do you want to get rid of a Jewish presence in certain areas because this is really what I think the goal of anti-Semitism is, to completely wipe us out. So, this is like the first step. I think that some parents do this and some parents don't, and I don't say what's right or wrong, but it is a huge morale battle,” Witt concludes.
