State of Jewish Bruin Life

In light of the war in Israel

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Hillel at UCLA Statement: April 26, 2024

As we head into Passover Shabbat I wanted to share with you the latest from campus.  Hillel students, lay leaders and professional staff have been observing the anti-Israel encampment.  Since Thursday morning it has grown to take up more space and include more people.  The activists have now camped out for two days and one night.

Hillel fundamentally supports the rights of every student to engage in free speech and right to assembly, however it is clear that this encampment violates a long list of University policies and rules, not to mention it impedes the ability for students - especially our Jewish students - to learn and live freely on campus.

We are in ongoing communication with administration to learn more about a possible timeline for action against these policy violations and have communicated what our community feels: that no exception for the rules and policies should be made at the expense of Jewish students.

We are simultaneously doing our best in this situation to keep the environment around this encampment as calm as possible, and we appreciate everyone’s cooperation in doing so. The vast majority of Jewish students prefer to avoid confrontation and minimize any risk of escalation - this is in service of their big picture goals to safely demonstrate Jewish pride and pursue their studies. To realize this preference, individuals who are external to campus are encouraged to please exercise caution and careful consideration when coming onto campus and showing support for Jewish life and Israel.

As we look forward to welcoming our community to Passover Shabbat services, dinner and Shabbat daytime programming and meals, please know that we will continue to do what we do best - promote community, togetherness and joyful Jewish life.

We couldn’t do it without you!  

Shabbat shalom,

Dan Gold
Executive Director

P.S. We are in around-the-clock communication with campus and students, however, due to the final Hag days of Passover, Hillel will refrain from external communication/updates regarding the encampment until Wednesday.

Hillel at UCLA Statement: April 25, 2024

Across the country, college campuses are being inundated with protest encampments that intimidate Jews and encourage widespread campus disruption. The intensity of anti-Zionist rhetoric and action has increased to unprecedented levels and the activism aims to take over public campus spaces and fill them with intimidating and harassing tactics. 

We have heard from our colleagues at Columbia, MIT, NYU, Minnesota, University of Texas, and USC and are learning from their deeply disturbing campus circumstances. We are vigilantly monitoring UCLA’s anti-Zionist channels so that we will be prepared in the case these encampments make their way to our campus.  We are in round-the-clock contact with the top levels of the UCLA administration, UCPD, LAPD, the Jewish Federation’s Community Security Initiative, Hillel International, and others on and off campus, collecting relevant information and coordinating responses to any urgent needs (security, well-being, etc) that our student community has. If you are asked what Hillel is doing in the face of this rapidly spreading crisis, please let others know that we are doing everything possible to help prevent this happening on our campus while also to prepare in the event that it does.

We were able to offer Passover programming without disruption, however as we write this message we are receiving word that encampments are beginning to be built at UCLA. 

My, and my professional staffs’, commitment is to the safety and well-being of our students. No matter the nature of the challenge that befalls Jewish Bruins, Hillel offers guidance, support and representation - and we are an organizing institution for the unity and strength of the Jewish Bruin community.  

Presently there is no specific advocacy for you to move ahead with, however, your charitable support and words of encouragement to the students and Hillel staff are always appreciated. As soon as we get more complete information about what's happening at UCLA, we will provide you with additional ideas on how you can take action.  It is truly comforting to know that, when the time comes, we can count on you to show up.   

Bearing witness to the ever-devolving national campus climate (on social media and the news) is understandably triggering for many of us. It would be impossible to control or respond to everyone and everything that we see. Just as Hillel advises our students, we also encourage you to make space to take care of yourself in the face of these distressing events - and encourage anyone who is motivated to support Hillel and our students, on whatever campus they are called to, in the ways we always do. 

Though Hillel is currently in a defensive position, our offensive game is solid. We will never stop our proactive approach to cultivating the best possible Jewish life at UCLA, including efforts to forge connections with other communities on campus, even when a crisis threatens to distract and derail. Hillel is anchored by our core commitment to create a Jewish campus life that celebrates our love of Israel and stokes the flame of Jewish joy. This week of Passover has been punctuated by scary scenes on campuses across the nation, yet there were countless lesser-told stories of vibrant, inclusive, celebratory Seders, holiday meals, enriching gatherings and Jewish leadership.  

We are incredibly preoccupied with the immediate needs of our campus community, however your thoughts, questions and feedback are always welcome.  We will do our best to respond and thank you, in advance, for your patience and support. 

Thank you and Chag Sameach,

Dan Gold
Executive Director

Hillel at UCLA Statement: March 21, 2024

This week, UCLA was bustling with activity related to the UC Regents’ Quarterly Meeting (which was held on campus).  While Finals Week is typically quiet, the Regents’ meeting drew many kinds of activists out of the woodwork and onto our public campus spaces.  Among them, UC Divest and other BDS activists camped out, installing ugly displays and slogans.  This has become routine…yet we can not accept it as normal!

In rejection of normalizing antisemitism, the Regents took time at their meetings to validate our Jewish community’s many comments and reports of discrimination.  Beyond words, the Regents were addressed by UC President Drake who shared the news that, effective this spring, all 10 UCs will join Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative - a program UCLA already began at the start of this year.  

This is a welcome and necessary step to better address campus antisemitism and take meaningful action to ensure our campuses are free of hate and fully accepting and inclusionary for all Jewish students, faculty and community members.  The full press release for this action is shared below. 

Wishing you a celebratory Purim and restful time off for those blessed with a spring break.

Dan Gold
Executive Director

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

UC President Drake announces UC-system-wide participation in Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative to Combat Antisemitism on Campus

Campus administrators, alongside Hillel professionals, continue their shared efforts to counter antisemitism and create an inclusive and safe environment for Jewish students at UCLA through their work with the Campus Climate Initiative.

LOS ANGELES – As Jewish college students across the United States and Canada experience an unprecedented rise in antisemitism following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., announced (in the March 20 Board of Regents meeting) that all UC schools will participate in Hillel International’s flagship Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) program.  

University of California, Los Angeles, is among four UC campuses which started this program in the summer of 2023.  They will be joined by the remaining 10 University of California campuses in the spring of 2024.  

A unique effort to strengthen ties among university leaders, Hillel at UCLA, and Hillel International, CCI provides tools to address the challenge of antisemitism on campus and to ensure a safe climate for Jewish Bruins where they can feel greater confidence and safety while expressing their identity and values. 

Senior members of the Hillel at UCLA team, including Dan Gold, Executive Director and Rachael Petru, Chief Development Officer, serve as partners for campus administration toward the shared goal of a safe and vibrant campus community for Jewish students.

With the addition of the largest group of participants to date, a total of more than 75 schools across the United States and Canada are now participating in this landmark Hillel program, which launched in 2020. By enrolling in CCI, participants express a commitment to working closely with Hillel International and their campus Hillels to improve the climate for Jewish students on their campus. 

The CCI program combines education about Jewish student identity and contemporary antisemitism with rigorous campus data collection and action planning to help higher education administrators and professionals lead their campuses to become more genuinely inclusive of Jewish students’ needs. In a moment when UCLA’s long-standing commitments to creating welcoming campus environments for all students have fallen short, this project integrates Jewish students and Hillel professionals into broader university efforts to combat bias and discrimination. 

Since October 7, Hillel International has tracked more than 1,100 incidents of antisemitism on college campuses – a nearly 10-fold increase compared to the same period last year. Additionally, a recent poll released by Hillel finds that 57% of Jewish students are not satisfied with the response of their campus administration to acts of violence and hate on campus, up from 50% in October. 

More information about CCI and participating universities can be found on the website.

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Hillel at UCLA Statement: February 21, 2024

Hillel at UCLA Statement: February 19, 2024

Today, campus is closed (for Presidents Day) and, as is the case with most long weekends, many students have left Westwood.  It’s a moment of situational quiet, but for those of us leading the Jewish Bruin community, we are painfully aware that we are in the eye of a storm. 

After the shock and exhaustion of Fall Quarter (and the deterioration of campus climate for Jewish students), we returned from winter break to reprieve.  In the first weeks of the Winter Quarter, Jewish students enjoyed the ability to walk about campus without being confronted with intrusive anti-Zionist marches and misinformed accusations that repetitively exposed terrifyingly familiar, generations-old antisemitic tropes.  

Disappointingly, that period of calm has expired, and it is certainly no surprise. In the past few weeks, the Jewish Bruin community has been subjected to:

• Daily Bruin articles and headlines with obvious antisemitic tropes around money and corruption
• Bullying and intimidation at the faculty level
• Open, uninhibited antisemitism being shouted in public rallies and campus marches
• Anti-Zionist vandalism on prominent campus buildings and walkways
• A forthcoming student government motion to demand that UCLA boycott, divest from, and sanction against Israel (BDS) happening tomorrow

The anti-Zionist hate movement continues to push their dangerous activism on every level of our campus environment.  We see antisemitism within the inflammatory demonstrations, the hate speech, brazenly destructive tactics, the academic intimidation, the student discrimination and even the institutional bias.

All the while, Jewish Bruin students continue to inspire through their leadership and commitment to Israel and Jewish peoplehood. Though, as Jews, they feel more isolated on campus than ever before, their sense of comfort comes from being there for one another in the context of Jewish community.  Examples of resilience include:

• Hillel students penning opinion pieces to call attention to the presence of antisemitism and bias in the Daily Bruin
• Attending free lunches and safe spaces at our Hillel home as a mechanism of avoiding the hostile and emotionally triggering on-campus anti-Zionist marches
• Planning thoughtful, multi-tiered responses to the student government BDS motion
• Accessing mental health and wellness programs and services to help mitigate the cumulative impact of this stressful time
• Coming together each week for Hillel programs such as Shabbat, Jewish learning, challah baking, Bruins for Israel events, and more.

With each obstacle - and with every incident - our students have rallied, strategized, found common ground, responded and have stood stronger than ever.

And you have been there for them, too.  Hillel at UCLA is not an official on-campus organization and receives zero funding from UCLA.  Over 50% of Hillel at UCLA‘s budget comes from individual donors and we are abundantly grateful that people like you make charitable gifts to sustain our student engagement work.  To contribute to our campaign to boost support, and bring light for students during these dark campus days, we invite you to support the Campus Climate Crisis Fund.

And stay tuned for more - we will continue to update you on our challenges and our achievements as the school year progresses.  

Hillel at UCLA Statement: November 17, 2023

Last week, a disturbing video circulated on social media, showing individuals on campus beating on pinatas with the images of Israel and American elected officials.  These unapologetic public displays of hostility only deepen a sense of vulnerability for so many Jewish Bruins.  In case you have not yet seen it, we are linking a statement that was made by UC President Drake, and a lead-up statement made by UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, on Friday November 17th.  While we know these are only words, we look forward to seeing a move into an actionable stage. 

On Monday, November 13th, we co-hosted an in-person panel event featuring three Hillel student leaders in conversation with Jodi Rudoren, the Editor in Chief of The Forward.  Though we weren’t able to have the program broadcast or professionally recorded, we offer you this rudimentary recording as a mechanism to hear, directly from the students, how they are doing, what it is like to be on campus since October 7th, and what type of support they need from you at this moment. 

On Tuesday we live-streamed the March for Israel in Washington, DC in our building.  Even from afar, we were enlivened by the solidarity of our people.  Thanks to the generosity of an angel benefactor, a 12-person UCLA delegation of our most active student leaders was able to travel to DC to join (and be nourished by) this historic event.  Later that day, Hillel hosted a group of UC Regents for a conversation/listening tour of Jewish students.  Six Jewish Bruin students bravely and honestly shared the ways in which their campus experience has been challenged in the face of unchecked anti-Zionism and antisemitism.  

On Wednesday, UC Regent Chair, Rich Lieb, made a powerful public statement to the Regents, directing Chancellors throughout the UCs to enforce rules for holding to account blatant violations of Jewish students’ rights.  We thank the Regents for calling attention to this serious matter and applaud the Chair’s insistence that this issue be handled with urgency!  To view his remarks CLICK HERE (at the 53 minute mark). A subsequent response from UC President Michael Drake announced new systemwide efforts focused on campus safety, civil rights, community education and employee training — several of which focus squarely on curbing anti-Jewish hatred.

Today (Friday) UCLA Hillel students will be attending the annual Rivalry Shabbat, hosted this year at USC.  While the long-standing competition between these cross-town rivals is fully intact, it is tempered by that which our Jewish students share in common.  

In the coming weeks (starting with Giving Tuesday, on November 28th) we’ll be launching our End of 2023 Fundraising Campaign, where the impact of all new gifts will be doubled by a matching grant challenge.  As we shift gears, we offer our most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported us since October 7th, enabling Hillel to keep up with student needs and extra-budgetary organizational demands.  Your ongoing investment in our Jewish Bruin community, in times of emergency and in times of calm, is critical to our success.  

**Important note: Hillel staff are overwhelmed by the hundreds of phone calls and emails from concerned community members who want to be sure we are aware of what’s happening on campus (we are) and that we are doing something to help (thank you).  We appreciate your understanding that our staffs’ bandwidth is limited and devoted, primarily, to supporting the students as they navigate campus at this moment of acute vulnerability. While you may not hear back from us, we want you to know that we are continuing to flex our relationships with campus influencers/policy makers and are making headway in holding to account antisemitism when it rears its hideous head.  As ever, campus climate is a top priority.**

Hillel at UCLA Statement: Oct 27, 2023

Yesterday and today Hillel at UCLA has been flooded with emails and phone calls from constituents and stakeholders from every corner of our community.  Already on edge, our community is responding to a social media post that captured the hateful rhetoric being chanted during the October 25th “Walk Out for Gaza” rally at UCLA.  While many social media posts misquoted the chant as “we want Jewish genocide” the actual rhetoric and language against Israel and Jews were equally unacceptable — “we charge you with genocide”.

We know that this was triggering and no matter the specific words used, the anti-Jewish messages are undeniable.  While we rarely do so, today we are compelled to issue the statement below. 

Thank you for being with us in our time of campus strife.

Dan Gold
Executive Director
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair

Hillel at UCLA Statement: Oct 26, 2023

We’re committed to keeping you updated on UCLA campus life and how Jewish students are doing as events continue to unfold. Assessing communal needs and meeting them is at the center of our focus.   

Wednesday brought to campuses around the country (including UCLA) another aggressive form of anti-Israel protest: the walkout (masses of students leaving class in coordinated form and gathering for on-campus protest).  These are painful times - our students continue to be confronted by vitriolic campaigns that promote the SJP’s victimhood agenda, targeted chants, blaming Israeli victims for their fate and vehemently denying a future two-state solution. Between the constant disruption and the hateful rhetoric (in-person on campus and in media), students are understandably stretched thin. 

On a promising note, UCLA was aware of and prepared for the walkout.  Campus was full with UC police and other security and Hillel staff were on site, alongside UCLA administrative partners, to bear witness, bring comfort and give guidance to Jewish students.  At our building, we have doubled our commitment to physical security - read to the end for more information.

Hillel is here to support all Jewish students in a myriad ways - and it has never been as important as in the past few weeks.  We are restoring students’ sense of safety and agency.  Below are a few of the programmatic ways that we’ve been taking care of our Jewish Bruin family in the past week:

1. 1. Building stronger connections between students and faculty:  When students shared how exposed they felt in the classroom, not knowing which professors would relate to them with compassion and which might act punitively toward them for being Jewish or supporting Israel, we responded by inviting professors and students to “speed network” with each other at Hillel.  More than 100 students and faculty have participated in two mixer/organizer convenings and we are on a path to building out this new project. 
   2. Celebrating and empowering leadership:  An annual event tradition, the Bruin Leadership Dinner has taken on new urgency and importance in this time of crisis.  Taking place in early November, our student leaders have secured the attendance of three powerful California elected officials; Congressman Ted Lieu, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel and Assembly Majority Leader Issac Bryan.  When a room full of influential students pairs with leaders of this caliber (and who have the Jewish community's back), we reconnect to our potential and power.
   3. Marking the anniversary of the Simchat Torah Massacre: With an eye on the one month anniversary of the massacre, our Hillel community is preparing for a large-scale convening of 1300+ people on campus to keep the names of the hostages in our hearts and stand in solidarity. We hope you will join us, save the date for November 7th in the middle of the day on campus (more details to follow).
   4. Nurturing the heart of Judaism: Hillel continues to provide “regularly scheduled” programming ranging from Shabbat programming, Learning Fellowships, pastoral care, community service and challah baking.  

Earlier this week our Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Chair, Executive Director, Dan Gold, published an OpEd in eJewishPhilanthropy which calls on communities to continue gathering, sharing our stories and telling our truth.  He underscores a collective call to action, one in which we must all play a part during the days and months to come. Click here to read it.   

Thank you to everyone who has made a charitable contribution to Hillel in the past couple of weeks. Here are some ways that your investment in our community is at work:

• Doubling security presence by ensuring that an armed security guard is on site whenever the building is open to the student public, as well as sending security to protect offsite Hillel programs. When needed, we are hiring two security guards, and UC Police also visit Hillel on rotation to keep us protected.
• Maintaining and expanding critical security infrastructure around the building.
• Increasing access to mental health services including individual therapy, pastoral care and group processing spaces.
• Sending influential students to receive expert training to create their own online social media content.
• Launching new initiatives that bridge students, faculty and administration to each other, paving the path for a stronger and more positive campus climate for Jewish students.

We will not be repressed.  Will will continue to show up. Am Yisrael Chai.

Hillel at UCLA Statement: Oct 18, 2023

Hillel at UCLA Statement: Oct 13, 2023

Earlier in the week we connected with you to share the “state of Jewish Bruin Life,” and today we are inviting you to learn more about how our week progressed. Scroll down to see our initial message. 

This has been a week full of heartache and corresponding communal support. On Wednesday night, nearly 500 members of the Bruin community gathered on Bruin Plaza for a “Vigil for Israel” that was organized by students, backed by UCLA administration, protected by UCPD and spearheaded and sponsored by Hillel at UCLA in collaboration with other campus Jewish organizations. We grieved and held each other up despite impossible heaviness. We came together united.

On Thursday our community was confronted by a “national day of resistance” in which students gathered on campus to protest Israel.  This demonstration, which began in one central location and then morphed into a march through campus, served as an affront to many Jewish students who are already feeling exposed and vulnerable, particularly in light of widespread social media claims that Friday would be a "day of rage".  The impact of psychological warfare may be invisible to the bare eye, however, it is deeply felt and is difficult to rebound from.   

We have increased our security at Hillel in several ways and are staying up to date by the hour on any new developments. We are in close contact with members of UCLA administration who are acting as partners to our community in our time of need (including by meeting Jewish Bruins on campus to walk alongside them on their way to Shabbat dinner at Hillel tonight).  We are sharing and reiterating connections for mental health support offered by Hillel, campus and other partners.  While you may not hear the details (and you may hear other bits of information and rumors), please be assured that we are leaning into these close connections at this uncertain and delicate time.  

Safe spaces, services, vigils and rallies in support of Israel and mourning the victims help Jewish students (and allies) feel understood and embraced by the community. Hillel is at the helm of organizing all of this.  Among many other things, we are coordinating Jewish faculty on campus. Their involvement is a demonstration of their own personal need for community and their determination to show up for students now and in the future. 

As a public institution, UCLA is barred by the Constitution from prohibiting expression based on the viewpoint of the speaker or content of the speech. Members of the Hillel community have direct ties to UCLA administrators to support them in upholding a campus climate which does not tolerate antisemitism, and we are using them. Many of you want to know how you can help.  Again, we invite you to please join Hillel and our students by focusing our attention and energy on showing up for the Jewish community and stay in touch with UCLA Hillel for more opportunities to strengthen the Jewish Bruin community.  While we and the University cannot always stop some of the hate expressed in our campus, all of us CAN show up for students who are afraid, exposed and in need of context and community.  

Am Israel Chai

Hillel at UCLA Statement: Oct 10, 2023