News

This isn’t a formal update, but a personal reflection on what we’re seeing on grad campuses and why our advocacy work matters so much right now.

Recently, our Director of Advocacy, Alona Shaked, wrote an article about the reality many Jewish grad students are living with today. It’s called “When Jewish safety concerns are not hypothetical,” and it captures something we talk about internally all the time: That for too many students, antisemitism isn’t theoretical but something they are experiencing in classrooms, online, in student groups, friendships, and sometimes just walking across campus.

We speak to these students every week. Bright, thoughtful, motivated young people who came to grad school to build their futures, and instead find themselves worrying about whether it’s safe to be publicly Jewish, speak up in class, or host a Jewish program. Some have been harassed or targeted on social media, and some students just quietly stop showing up as themselves.

And that breaks my heart, but it’s also what fuels our work.

Because JGO is one of the only active Jewish organizations embedded on campuses across North America, we are in a unique position. We’re not just reacting to problems after they explode, we work every day to prevent situations from getting worse and we do that by staying close to our students, listening carefully, and working hand in hand with university administrators before tensions escalate.

When a student calls us scared or unsure what to do, we don’t send them a link and wish them luck. We talk with them and help them navigate reporting, connect them to resources and then advocate directly with campus leadership. We try our best to make sure issues are addressed early, thoughtfully, and seriously.

We also invest heavily in prevention, training student leaders, strengthening security, building trust with administrators, and giving our students the confidence and tools to stand strong without standing alone.

What Alona wrote about isn’t an isolated story. It’s a window into what many of our students are quietly carrying. And, despite all of this, I continue to be inspired by them. They show up every day and partner with JGO to build community on their grad campus. They host Jewish programming, mentor each other, and refuse to disappear.

I wanted you to hear this directly from me, because advocacy isn’t something we talk about in theory at JGO. It’s happening every day, in real time, with real students. It’s challenging, emotional, and sometimes heavy. But it’s also deeply meaningful, and it’s central to who we are as an organization.

I’m grateful to be doing this work, and I’m grateful to be able to share it with you. Any further ideas or thoughts, just respond to this email!

Warmly,
Dave