Your recent article about the University of Maryland’s launch of an antisemitism and Islamophobia task force is both welcome news and a sharp reminder (“University of Maryland to launch antisemitism and Islamophobia task force amid increased on-campus tensions,” Nov. 29). It’s welcome because our college students increasingly need the support to face the obscene rise in hate-based incidents and crimes infecting college campuses around the state and our nation.
The shooting of three Palestinian college students last week near the University of Vermont campus was just the latest in a series of terrible tragedies impacting our college students. Hillel International, the Jewish campus organization, just reported that over half of Jewish students (54%) are scared, more than one in three say they have needed to hide their Jewish identity and around the same percentage say there have been acts of hate or violence on campus against Jews.
Your article is also a sharp reminder that we can and must act because hate is a problem whose solution does not rely solely on institutions such as universities, political leaders or even newspapers, as important as their efforts are. It’s a problem that can be addressed by us — by good people refusing to be silent. We can speak up among friends and neighbors, co-workers and co-religionists when we read about these troubling incidents. We can offer our personal support to victims and their communities.
Regardless of what divisive political or tech leaders may say, we can enforce an expectation that this behavior is not tolerated, not any longer, not in our communities.
— David Conn, Baltimore
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