Opinion: Fighting anti-Semitism at Harvard should not come at the expense of DEI

Editor’s note: Erica Licht is the Research Project Director for the Systemic Anti-Racism and Accountability Project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She is also a graduate with a master’s degree in public administration.She co-hosts the podcast untie the knot and post on Twitter/X with the handle @Erica_Licht. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Her Conversation. Her views expressed in this comment are her own.read more opinions On CNN.

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If last week’s news that Harvard University received a subpoena from a U.S. Congressional committee shows us anything, it’s that the controversy over anti-Semitism on campus and attacks on DEI programs is far from over. Thing.

A national debate about anti-Semitism on college campuses erupted in December after a controversial Congressional hearing that led to the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz McGill and, weeks later, after a plagiarism accusation. Meanwhile, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned under pressure. There are emotions that would never have arisen if it weren’t for the hearing.

The ongoing controversy has divided the Harvard University community, with some people on campus objecting to diversity initiatives aimed at supporting racial minority students, and Some suggest it is promoting anti-Semitic prejudice at the expense of Jews.

I see everything in a completely different way. I am Jewish and have long ties to Harvard University as an employee and alumnus. The research I and others are conducting, as well as my lived experience, refutes the idea that the fight for greater diversity on campuses and the fight against anti-Semitism are contradictory.

When my Ashkenazi Jewish family immigrated to the United States from Poland and Ukraine in the early 20th century, people like them were labeled by American society as “alien” and “a threat.” By the 1920s, Jewish scapegoating and the bold resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan increased prejudice, including restrictions on education, housing, and the immigration of loved ones. Many of the same prejudiced beliefs influenced Harvard’s policies. For the first 300 years since its founding, Harvard University actively excluded prospective students from a variety of backgrounds, including myself.

It’s clear that Harvard wasn’t built for me. Harvard University has a history of discrimination against Jews, and for years had quotas in place that limited the number of Jewish students admitted. By the 1920s, Jews made up about a quarter of the students enrolled at Harvard, and the university began implementing policies to limit the number of Jews.

To this day, anti-Semitism is rampant across the United States and certainly remains a problem at my alma mater and employer. It is systemic, structural, cultural and social. However, the debate over discrimination against Jews in the United States is complex. Because even though many Jews were discriminated against, many of us were also the beneficiaries of privileges based on race.

The racial assimilation of Jewish European immigrants meant that their legal status on census forms changed over time from “alien” to white. This change meant that white people gained the right to important benefits given to white people through measures like the GI Bill, including access to education and small business loans, as well as admission to universities such as Harvard University. It meant that.

This history of discrimination and privilege is the reason why I entered Harvard University and later worked at Harvard University. This is the same context in which I consider current criticisms of campus efforts regarding racial equity. It is important to note that the same bigoted ideology that resulted in the restriction of Jews at Harvard University prohibited blacks until 1847 and kept their numbers low for many years.

Like anti-Semitism, racism pervades every aspect of American society and remains present at Harvard University. Even today, black students at Harvard make up just 10% of the student body, and black faculty make up just 5% of the tenured faculty.

I understand how my ethnicity has been marginalized, but I also know the many ways I benefit from my white status. My skin color, complexion, and appearance make me feel unrestricted when I walk into Harvard’s offices, drive around Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the university is located, or shop at the stores around Harvard Yard. There is no question that you will be welcomed with such access.

As a white person, my work history is consistently considered valid when I attend conferences, and I am considered to be in a position of authority and expertise when attending events around campus. But just a few months ago, I entered a university event without my name being checked by security, and a black colleague directly behind me was stopped, checked on a list, and refused entry. This is what it means to be white, regardless of ethnicity.

There are those who would have me believe that the fight against anti-Semitism at Harvard and elsewhere in this country is in direct conflict with the fight for greater rights by other groups. they are wrong Anti-Semitism is also not an outgrowth of anti-racism. Anti-Semitism is a harmful result of white supremacist discourse. It is rooted in historical myths about who deserves admission to elite educational institutions. White supremacy is a poison that affects not only people of color but also Jews.

Like many European Jews, I feel like I’m being forced to make the wrong choice. Am I white and privileged, or Jewish and oppressed? The answer is obvious. I have experienced marginalization in a predominantly Christian society, but as someone who is socially and legally labeled as white, I have not experienced racism. I am directly benefiting from it. That’s why, despite Harvard University’s history of discrimination against Jews, I refuse to be a wedge against the advancement of not only Black people, but Native Americans and other people of color.

In recent months, I have seen the ideological and political attacks on institutions of higher education, not just in schools, but in every organizational program labeled as diversity equity, inclusion (DEI) or racial equity work. I’ve seen it have an impact as well. The postponed Congressional policy hearings in December and the coordinated campaign to pressure the presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University to resign were not designed to protect Jews. They were strategically destructive to diversity efforts.

The same strategic evacuation continues in a subpoena issued last week by the House Education and Labor Committee, chaired by Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina. The subpoena orders Harvard University officials to produce a series of documents based on accusations that Harvard obstructs the committee’s investigation and is “prepared to condone the spread of anti-Semitism on campus.” ing.

But as a Jewish Harvard graduate and employee who studies diversity programs, I have no intention of perpetuating the false and dangerous narrative that anti-racism equals anti-Semitism. And I am disappointed in the attempts by some to use the debate about anti-Semitism at Harvard and other institutions of higher education as a tool to divide us. This is reminiscent of a similar effort in 2022 to weaponize longstanding criticisms of affirmative action, especially among Asian American students at Harvard University. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs and struck down these programs.

Academic literature demonstrates that universities broadly benefit from diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. And, like universities, organizations directly benefit from his DEI programs, including financial returns that exceed industry averages. Diversity programs are proving once again that they reduce bias and promote inclusion of peers on college campuses, not the other way around. And one of the facts that I’ve documented as a researcher and experienced as an alumnus is that DEI programs don’t just make better students, they make better citizens.

Throughout our history, some have tried to pit marginalized groups, particularly Jews and blacks, against each other at educational institutions like Harvard University. However, despite Harvard University’s history of discrimination against Jews, I refuse to be a wedge against the advancement of the rights of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.

Through my work at Harvard, I will continue to oppose the weaponization of anti-Semitism. I will not be part of destroying the resources, institutions, and programs for students that are working to create a better, more equitable learning space. My own family’s history of marginalization and my understanding of it has shown me that my Jewish identity is compatible with racial justice work. rather, it is in direct service to it.

Now, more than ever, we are redoubling our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion to support Black, Indigenous, and people of color as they navigate campuses that are increasingly under attack for their own benefit. We must support our students, as well as our Jewish, Muslim, and Arab students. Academic integrity and the service they provide is important.