Brown makes list of worst colleges for Jewish students

BROWN UNIVERSITY has made it onto a list of the 40 worst colleges for Jewish students, coming in 14th.
 / COURTESY BROWN UNIVERSITY
BROWN UNIVERSITY has made it onto a list of the 40 worst colleges for Jewish students, coming in 14th. / COURTESY BROWN UNIVERSITY

(Updated 9:48 a.m.)
PROVIDENCE – Brown University has made it onto a list of the 40 worst colleges for Jewish students, coming in 14th.

The list, from The Algemeiner, which calls itself the “fastest growing Jewish newspaper,” said Brown’s Jewish community “has faced substantial challenges this year,” citing several incidents.

To come up with the ranking, it said it considered factors such as the “number of antisemitic incidents on each campus; the number of anti-Israel groups, and the extent to which they are active; the Jewish student population, and number of Jewish or pro-Israel groups; the availability of Jewish resources on campus; the success or lack thereof of Israel boycott efforts.” It then condensed the information into a point-grading system, resulting in the list of 40 colleges.

Incidents at Brown highlighted by the newspaper included:

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  • A transgender activist who cancelled an appearance at the school over pressure from anti-Israel students over Hillel’s co-sponsorship of the event, claiming that Hillel’s participation constituted “pinkwashing,” described by the newspaper as “the practice whereby Israel allegedly advertises its liberal attitudes toward LGBTQ matters to try to improve its image … and deflect attention from its colonization and occupation of Palestine.” Hillel is the center for Jewish life on campus.
  • Students for Justice in Palestine launched a campaign to remove products, such as hummus, made by the Israeli company Sabra, from the dining hall, causing Brown administrators to promise to offer a variety of alternatives to food from the Jewish state.
  • In October, Jewish student Benjamin Gladstone wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, “Antisemitism at My University, Hidden in Pain Sight.”

Brown spokesman Brian Clark said in a statement that Brown is committed to “offering a vibrant and positive experience for our Jewish students, free of any form of discrimination or intolerance.”

“Like other college campuses around the country, we unfortunately are not immune to contentious debate about the relationship between Israel and Palestine. The university continues to convey very strongly to our community that any expression of religious intolerance, which includes anti-Semitism, is entirely unacceptable and a direct affront to Brown’s values. We confront any instance of prejudice or discrimination, and we continue to take action across campus to sustain and strengthen an environment in which every member of our community feels safe and respected,” Clark said.

The Algemeiner said the purpose of the list is to “draw attention to the problem of rising hostility faced by many Jewish students on campus today.” It said it hopes that the response to the ranking will be “aspirational and prompt university administrators and other interested parties to give serious consideration to what can be done to ameliorate the condition of Jewish students, wherever they are enrolled.” It said the campuses should not necessarily be avoided, but prospective students and their families should be informed.

No. 1 on the list is Columbia University in New York City. Massachusetts schools that made the list are Tufts University in Medford at No. 23, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, No. 26, and Harvard University in Cambridge, No. 33. Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., came in at No. 31.

A companion list, The 15 Best Colleges for Jewish Students, 2016, included three New England schools. No. 3 on the list was Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; No. 4 was Brandeis University in Waltham; and No. 14 on the list was Yale University in New Haven, Conn. The college at the top of the list was Yeshiva University in New York City.

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