Open Letter to Wesleyan Jewish Community

, by Concerned Alumni, Contributing Writers

An open letter to the Jewish community at Wesleyan—

We write to you as Wesleyan alumni who have been watching with great concern the increased tensions on many college campuses concerning Hamas’ terror attacks on October 7 and Israel’s military response. We understand that in this time of heightened discourse, challenging rhetoric and concern for physical safety, some of you may be feeling silenced, threatened or confused. We write to ensure you know that we stand with you and you are not alone.

Wesleyan has always been a special place where we vigorously debate all things large and small. The Wesleyan difference is that these debates are shrouded in civility and respect…and we learn from each other. As members of the Wesleyan community, you should expect an open forum to engage in civil discourse, physical and emotional safety in your academic and social communities, and freedom from harassment, antisemitism, dehumanization and bullying. Should you choose to, you should be able to identify as a Jew and a Zionist on campus. This is not special treatment… all communities at Wesleyan should be entitled to the same.

We encourage all of you to seek the support you need over the coming weeks—whether through Jewish community organizations such as Chabad and Bayit or personal networks like family, friends, colleagues, administrators and teachers. We are all reeling from the horrific events of October 7 and its aftermath—but we are stronger when we move forward together. Please know that we have your backs in the coming days and we pray for your comfort and wellbeing.

WESLEYAN ALUMNI

Ian Anthony Rosenthal ’88
Jeremy Arnold ’91
Ron Ashkenas ’72
Jori Balsam ’23
Marjorie Becker ’88
Martin Berger ’87
Erica Berger Hankin ’88
Seth Bergstein ’88
Malka (Martha) Bockian ’81
Nicole Brodkowitz ’20
Marshall Brozost ’89
Lauren Bruck Simon ’89
Mike Busman ’72
Sarah Cassel ’13
Heather Claudine Nash ’92
Jennifer Daniels ’90
Lawrence H. Davis ’76
Sarah Dhar ’88
Jeremy Edelberg ’14
Michelle Elisburg ’92
Shani Erdman ’19
Pauline Frommer ’88
Brad Fuller ’87
Dan Furman ’90
John Gannon ’86
Alexandra I. Gerber ’23
Suzanne Gilberg ’88
Nate Gillman ’20
Evan Glassman ’87
Robert Glasspiegel ’73
Aaron Goldman ’23
Scott Goodman ’23
Samantha Goodman ’88
Sara Greene ’23
Chessy Greenwald ’23
John Hlinko ’89
Jessica Jacobson Genet ’05
Rachel Jacobson Teitler ’08
Kenneth Jeruchim ’00
Darrell Johnson ’89
Rabbi Bill Kaplan ’87
Tilden Katz ’87
David Kohan ’86
Douglas Krugman ’89
Karen Kuller ’95
Lara  (Small) Laurence ’90
Ben Lefkowitz ’20
Jonathan Lewis ’97
Michael Lewyn ’84
Gad Licht ’20
Hayley Lipson ’21
Avi Lipton ’20
Anne Liss Johnson ’89
Brad Lubin ’87
Gillian Lubin ’20
Ethan Lubin ’23
Jonathan M. Koff ’89
Tzvi Mackson ’89
Liz Marx ’89
John McIntyre ’86
Colleen McKiernan ’89
David Milch ’89
Joel Miller ’20
Gabe Millstein ’23
Sarah Milo ’05
Ivan Moskowitz ’88
Meg Mueller ’88
Abbie Neufeld ’16
Charles Neuman ’91
Mike Olinger ’89
Susan Paley ’89
Parent of ’23
David Perechocky ’05
Tom Policelli ’89
Audrey Prins ’93
Muzzy Rosenblatt ’87
Grace Rubin ’18
Andrew Schwartz ’20
Ira Sharkansky ’60
Cheryl Sheffler Rubenstein ’88
Abe Slavin ’20
Abby Smuckler ’89
Joseph Sokol ’86
Abaye Steinmetz-Silber ’12
Todd Stock ’05
Jerry Stouck ’77
Bill Tokheim ’89
Niels Vizgan ’20
Sam Wachsberger ’17
Jason Weinberg ’89
Carol Weiss ’77
Freddi
Weiss-Kadden
Miriam Zenilman ’20
Mark Zitter ’80

 

  • Current Student

    As a Jewish student on campus, I can’t thank you enough for your support. it’s been pretty isolating for Jews on campus. I found the sentence, “Should you choose to, you should be able to identify as a Jew and a Zionist on campus” to speak to me. I’ve been struggling with this all semester. In theory, students should respect their Jewish peers regardless of if they’re Zionist or not, but calling yourself a Zionist is social suicide. It’s like you’re forced to shed some part of your identity to fit into the woke mob. It’s especially hard seeing people be so adamant about their stance on this issue when they are not properly educated. The amount of propaganda I have seem from my Wesleyan peers is astounding. There needs to be a seminar on propaganda and misinformation on social media or something because it is quite scary the things I’ve seen shared by my otherwise intelligent peers. So much of me wants to call out their misinformation, bias, and sometimes antisemitic stances, but frankly I’m scared. So I stay quiet. I really hope for a day that myself and other Jewish students don’t have to hide my views and instead we can engage in civil discussion and learn from each other at Wesleyan but I am afraid the campus climate is a long way from getting there.

  • DKE Bro

    Believe it or not, Claudine Gay is available to occupy the Wesleyan presidency. This is a historic opportunity for Michael Roth to show us that he really means what he says.

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