Dear President Bernhardt and Provost Socarides:
We write as Jewish faculty members at Emerson College to express concern about the weaponization of antisemitism both on campus and nationally. Some of us also represent Emerson College in the Boston chapter of the Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff, which emerged in part to counter the false and dangerous premise that criticizing Israel is antisemitic or that doing so creates a hostile environment for Jewish students.
We are aware that Emerson College was one of 60 universities to receive letters from the Department of Education “warning of potential enforcement actions” for alleged Title VI violations involving claims of antisemitism. While it is a given that the college should take antisemitism seriously, we should all understand that these letters—and any forthcoming investigation—have nothing to do with combating antisemitism at Emerson or anywhere else.
This is a transparent move by the Trump administration to concentrate power and erode university independence under the offensive pretext of “protect[ing] Jewish students.” We know this presents an acute challenge to you. We are here to support you, our institution, and our students and colleagues as we navigate these bad-faith attacks.
We understand that Emerson’s ’s leadership has stated it will “create new programs informed by the Anti-Defamation League.” We express concern about this, because the ADL is no longer a credible source on antisemitism. This once venerable organization has taken a terrible wrong turn. By conflating anti-Israel political speech with antisemitic hate crimes, the ADL has discredited its own once-valuable data gathering work. By smearing Jews who make common-sense appeals for peace in the Middle East, the ADL has embraced defamation and enabled attacks on our own community. By refusing to censure right-wing antisemitism, and even defending billionaire Elon Musk’s recent Nazi-style salute, the ADL has aligned itself with those who pose the greatest threat to Jewish safety.
The ADL knows that criticism of Israel is expressed frequently and passionately by Jewish students and scholars across the country. For many of us, our criticism of Israel is inextricably linked to our own Jewish identity. It is offensive and insulting when elected officials and university leaders suggest that criticism of Israel is anti-Jewish. In fact, some of us are signatories of the “Not In Our Name” letter along with nearly 3,000 people from March 11. We’re also signatories of a petition from last May, when over 1,300 Jewish academics urged Congress not to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism precisely because it erroneously conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
We write in the spirit of solidarity, but with growing anxiety that Emerson College will neither live its values nor defend us against escalating authoritarian attacks. We implore you to reject the lie that quashing academic freedom and pro-Palestine activism benefits Jews. This is the same lie the Trump administration marshals to legitimize an assault on higher education in hopes that the threat of “existential terror” will bend us to their will.
The Trump administration does not represent us. We hope you will. To do so, we ask that you reject dangerous narratives coming from the Trump administration and allied organizations like the ADL. We further ask that you listen to the broad range of perspectives that animate your own campus, including Jewish colleagues who criticize Israel.
We accordingly request a meeting with you at your earliest convenience. We also request the opportunity to work with you to strategize about Emerson’s response to these unprecedented and unfounded attacks. We write to make clear that there is a diversity of Jewish perspectives on our campus, and that we, the undersigned, do not agree that criticism of Israel or Zionism automatically indicates antisemitism.
Our fate is linked. As Emerson faculty, we look forward to working together in hopes of helping Emerson College live up to its highest ideals.
Sincerely,
Mneesha Gellman, Associate Professor of Political Science
David Kishik, Professor of Philosophy
Nigel Gibson, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Jaime Tanner, Associate Professor of Biology
Cara Moyer-Duncan, Associate Professor of Africana Studies
Adam Franklin-Lyons, Associate Professor of History
Julia Halperin, Assistant Professor of Visual Media Arts
Dana Edell, Assistant Professor of Performing Arts
Rivka Eckert, Artist-in-Residence, Performing Arts
Maria Corrigan, Assistant Professor of Visual and Media Arts
S.Secunda, Affiliated Faculty of Visual Media Arts
Kathryn Ramey, Professor of Visual and Media Arts
Lauren Shaw, Professor, Visual and Media Arts
Linda Reisman, Senior Distinguished Producer-in-Residence, Visual and Media Arts
L. Marc Fields, Professor of Visual and Media Arts
Tim Riley, Associate Professor of Journalism