A ‘VIRUS OF HATE’
Students and leaders in Jewish community speak out against recent anti-Semitic incidents at UConn, call for transparency in investigations
Following a series of seven anti-Semitic incidents at UConn, students are calling for more transparency in the university’s bias incident investigation process, as well as more education on the Jewish faith in an effort to prevent hate incidents from reoccurring.
When she toured colleges as a high school student, Avital Sutin, 19, made it a priority to visit each campus’ Hillel chapters and ask about anti-Semitism in the community.
“It was really something I cared about,” said the UConnsophomore, nowvice president of UConn Hillel. Like many others, Sutin said she was deeply hurt by the recent hate incidents, which also recall painful moments in her ownfamily history.
“This isn’t new,” said the student who grew up in southern Connecticut. “Our parents have experienced it, our grandparents have experienced it. ...This is something I’ve grown up with and it’s really ingrained in my family’s history.”
Sarah Soucy, 22, a senior, said: “I am not alone when I say I amunbelievably scared to be a Jew at the University of Connecticut right now.”
At a solidarity gathering organized by UConn Hillel Monday afternoon, students and leaders in Connecticut’s Jewish community spoke out against the seven anti-Semitic incidents that have taken place since the start of the school year, including swastika graffiti near UConn Hillel and other forms for property damage. The university said Friday it is also investigating offensive comments made toward the LGBTQ community
around the same time, as well as an anti-Black slur discovered in the same building as one of the swastikas.
“Students want to be more involved,” said Sutin. “I think a lot of the time we hear an investigation without knowing the details. As students we know there’s a balance between holding people accountable for their actions, as well as educating people [and] educating the community as a source of prevention so this doesn’t happen in the future.”
University president Thomas Katsouleas, whospokeat the gathering, said community members can report bias incidents online and check on the status of ongoing investigations “in an attempt for greater transparency.”
“They take time. When we have something to report, we do,” Katsouleas told the Courant. But unfortunately, he said, such incidents “often go unaccounted, because we don’t end up finding out whodid them. But we give the best possible human effort to find out who did it, and take whatever steps for accountability we can.”
Katsouleas noted that the recent events are not an increase over what the university has seen during past academic years, but the administration is aiming to be more public about incidents that are reported.
“There’s more awareness,” he said. “We’re being more vocal about it.”
University spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said: “UConn Police and others are actively investigating the incidents, and the University has been reaching out to offer support to affected students, employees and organizations, including at UConn Hillel.”
Edina Oestreicher, executive director of UConn Hillel, said while she knows certain information in ongoing investigations must be kept confidential, she can understand why students are frustrated.
“I think when students don’t hear anything, the perception is that nothing is being done,” she said. “They want the university to understand how this feels for them, to have seven incidents in one academic year: the hurt, feeling angry, feeling scared, feeling threatened.”
Oestreicher said the Jewish community on campus is trying to use the recent incidents as opportunities “to do something positive,” including offering more educational and training opportu
nities for students and staff.
Dori Jacobs, a junior whoserves as president of UConn Hillel, said anti-Semitic incidents can stem from ignorance as well as hate.
“Perpetrators may think their actions are somehow funny or enjoy the negative attention. ...They may not realize the generational trauma that comes with seeing a swastika spray-painted on a brick wall,” she said.
Ben Back, 20, who is also a junior, said: “I would like to see real change in the way we react to anti-Semitism before I leave this university. I want students to see what anti-Semitism really is, how it affects our society, and how to combat it at its source.”
David Waren, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of
Greater Hartford, said the organization will soon introduce “a new security initiative, that will encompass Hillel and will provide training, security assessments [and] law enforcement relationship initiatives.”
“The measure of this campus is not whether these incidents happen ... [but] how good people respond,” said Waren, while addressing the UConn community Monday. “Standing with all of you here this afternoon, there is no question that we have the capacity and the will to confront and overcome this resurgent virus of hate with unabashed pride, confidence, and determination.”