A Penn student, speaking at a press conference organized by the American Jewish Committee, urged the University to take action against campus antisemitism during the new school year.
College sophomore Talia Shapiro, a 34th Street Magazine staffer, was one of four Philadelphia-area Jewish college students to speak at the press conference held Monday in Philadelphia. Shapiro and the other students discussed their experiences as college students in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and shared how the ensuing pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses have affected them.
In her remarks, Shapiro shared her experiences as a Penn student on campus in the wake of campus protests last academic year. She said she felt a growing lack of safety on campus, especially after the Oct. 7 attacks. However, she said it was not entirely the University’s fault due to “instigators from outside of Penn.”
“[T]hat being said, the administration did not speak up quickly enough and did not help us right away,” Shapiro added.
Shapiro said that there have been no “outwardly antisemitic” incidents on Penn’s campus so far this school year, but called on Penn administration to “be proactive and take a stance against antisemitism.”
Prior to the students’ remarks, AJC leaders spoke of their concern about the safety of Jewish students on campus, citing universities’ “legal and moral responsibility to ensure that their campuses are safe places where all students are welcome.”
“Consistently enforcing codes of conduct is a start, but that's not the end of the conversation,” AJC Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey President Mark Blaskey said. “It’s vital that university administrators listen to their Jewish students, faculty, and staff, who are feeling vulnerable and they're feeling scared.”
The other speakers — Rabbi Isabel de Koninck, the executive director of Hillel at Drexel University, and students at Drexel, Temple University, and Bryn Mawr College — also highlighted the diverse experiences of Jewish students on different college campuses.
“We need universities and Jewish institutions to stop pretending like Jewish students fall into these clear-cut categories [of pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian], or that one of these categories is more Jewish than the others,” Bryn Mawr sophomore Lori Ackerman said during the press conference. “We need you to allow all of us to work through our messy feelings in your spaces, even if it hurts and is uncomfortable, and most importantly, we need you to empower any student who is searching for common ground.”
Shapiro, the vice president of communications at Penn Hillel, told The Daily Pennsylvanian it was important for her to participate in the press conference to advocate for the protection of spaces dedicated to Jewish community on campus.
Penn has undertaken several efforts in the past year in an effort to address antisemitism, including a dedicated task force which was convened by former Penn President Liz Magill in November 2023 and issued its final report in May. The task force included several recommendations on how to combat campus antisemitism, including a clear definition of the application of open expression guidelines, support and expansion of Jewish studies, and bolstering the current bias incident reporting system. College senior and Hillel Co-President Maya Harpaz was a student member of the University Task Force on Antisemitism.
Magill resigned in December 2023 after months of turmoil and campus protests after the Palestine Writes Literature Festival and Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel — culminating in scrutiny over her remarks at a congressional hearing on antisemitism and her subsequent resignation.
Members of Hillel’s board will meet with Interim Penn President Larry Jameson on Sept. 18, Shapiro told the DP. A University spokesperson declined a request for comment.
“I’m hopeful that it will only get better, and I’m really hopeful that campus becomes a less hateful and safer space for all students,” Shapiro said.
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