What is most encouraging about this, judging from this report, is the call for Jews to stay strong. That is, to not play the victim and ask to be admitted to the victimhood competition of DEI, which would be worse than doing nothing. Jewish students do not need Harvard administrators to help them cope or feel better. They need Harvard to change in very painful and fundamental ways.
This is a hugely important point. The message from Jews should be less "recognize us as victims" and more "apply rules equitably". I was cheered to see that my focus on this approach made it into Judge Stearns' 6 August ruling in the Harvard antisemitism lawsuit. Stearns noted:
"Harvard required Chabbad, a campus Hasidic Jewish community center, to remove its Hanukkah menorah from campus each night to prevent it being vandalized, but it provided 24/7 security to [Palestinian Solidarity Committee]’s “Wall of Resistance.”"
Although Sterns ruled that this "viewpoint discrimination" was "not actionable under Title VI", it seems clear that Stearns included this example because it was odious and reflected badly on Harvard.
Before the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance event there was a brunch for alumni at Harvard Hillel, attended by about 100 people. President Garber came and stayed for well over half an hour, talking with many alumni. Garber left the impression that there was much more being done to improve the climate than is currently known publicly.
With 800 people at this Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance event one might wonder how the Crimson decided to cover the event. So far there is no article, though the Crimson reported that "More than 200 Harvard students and faculty members gathered on the steps of Widener Library to celebrate the first ever South Asian convocation on Saturday."
The Crimson has now weighed in with its article on the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance event. They described the crowd as "more than 300 people". Hopefully Ira Stoll did an estimate so we can see how much that is an underestimate. I'd guess two fold. There were 800 tickets sold.
Will the Crimson now change its estimate for the South Asian convocation to "less than 200 people"?
What is most encouraging about this, judging from this report, is the call for Jews to stay strong. That is, to not play the victim and ask to be admitted to the victimhood competition of DEI, which would be worse than doing nothing. Jewish students do not need Harvard administrators to help them cope or feel better. They need Harvard to change in very painful and fundamental ways.
This is a hugely important point. The message from Jews should be less "recognize us as victims" and more "apply rules equitably". I was cheered to see that my focus on this approach made it into Judge Stearns' 6 August ruling in the Harvard antisemitism lawsuit. Stearns noted:
"Harvard required Chabbad, a campus Hasidic Jewish community center, to remove its Hanukkah menorah from campus each night to prevent it being vandalized, but it provided 24/7 security to [Palestinian Solidarity Committee]’s “Wall of Resistance.”"
Although Sterns ruled that this "viewpoint discrimination" was "not actionable under Title VI", it seems clear that Stearns included this example because it was odious and reflected badly on Harvard.
Before the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance event there was a brunch for alumni at Harvard Hillel, attended by about 100 people. President Garber came and stayed for well over half an hour, talking with many alumni. Garber left the impression that there was much more being done to improve the climate than is currently known publicly.
With 800 people at this Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance event one might wonder how the Crimson decided to cover the event. So far there is no article, though the Crimson reported that "More than 200 Harvard students and faculty members gathered on the steps of Widener Library to celebrate the first ever South Asian convocation on Saturday."
Crimson crowd counts have been in at least one recent experience of mine dramatically inflated, so reader beware. See: https://www.theeditors.com/p/harvard-mob-spreads-jew-hating-lies
Sorry, here is the correct link for the Crimson counting problems: https://www.theeditors.com/p/anti-israel-vandals-hit-bostons-emerald
The Crimson has now weighed in with its article on the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance event. They described the crowd as "more than 300 people". Hopefully Ira Stoll did an estimate so we can see how much that is an underestimate. I'd guess two fold. There were 800 tickets sold.
Will the Crimson now change its estimate for the South Asian convocation to "less than 200 people"?
I thought of that 2-fold correction factor when reading the Crimson article (https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/9/23/inaugural-south-asian-convocation/) because all I saw in the photo accompanying the article were 10 people, not the 200 described in the text.
Students are willing to pay $80 thousand to Harvard not for the education but for the degree.