Jewish students, professors allege antisemitism on CUNY campuses

NEW YORK — The rise in incidents of antisemitism at City University of New York campuses has some Jewish students and professors saying they’re afraid to return in the fall.

As CBS2’s Lisa Rozner reported Thursday, they are pleading with the university system to take action.

When Professor Jeffrey Lax steps on the CUNY Kingsborough campus, where he’s the Business Department chair, he does not wear his yarmulke.

“I do not want to be targeted. That’s the reason,” Lax said. “I wish I could just do my job.”

But Lax says a few years ago some fellow faculty members learned he was Jewish and Zionist, and threats and intimidation followed.

“It is a religious belief for me and for many other people,” Lax said. “And they admitted they had events on a Friday night not to make sure Orthodox Jews — me — couldn’t come.”

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission substantiated all of his claims last year, but Lax says CUNY has still not addressed the hostile work environment.

Similar complaints were voiced by dozens of professors and students across CUNY campuses last month at a City Council Higher Education Committee hearing.

“Graduate student, um, starts telling me that Jews control the world, that they, um, kill babies, that they own all banks,” said Tzvia Waronker, a student at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

But Waronker says CUNY John Jay told her comments like that were not considered to be antisemitism.

She and Councilwoman Inna Vernikov met with CUNY’s chancellor last week after he failed to show up at last month’s hearing.

“They also committed to more Israel exchange programs, as well as they said that since the hearing they’ve been exploring the idea of adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism,” Vernikov said.

That’s the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition, which says antisemitism includes holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the state of Israel. New York’s governor adopted it last month.

“If we don’t have a definition of antisemitism, it doesn’t matter what you’ve reported,” Waronker said.

Councilman Eric Dinowitz has introduced a resolution in the City Council that would have CUNY create a systemfor students to report antisemitism.

“My great grandparents were gassed to death by Nazis, so that’s something that weighs on me and when I see something like this, I want to act,” Lax said.

A CUNY spokesperson told CBS2 the “University is engaged every day in efforts to combat antisemitism,” and it is “always learning new ways to improve our efforts.”

A spokesperson for CUNY Kingsborough said the school has zero tolerance for discrimination and is taking Professor Lax’s allegations “very seriously.” However, it wouldn’t comment on the EEOC report because of separate pending litigation.

CUNY John Jay didn’t respond directly to Waronker’s allegations, but told CBS2, in part, it is “committed to fighting bigotry.”