Photo Courtesy of Rosemary Geib ‘23
By Declan Langton ’22, Liz Lewis ’22, Ella White ’22 & Katie Goss ’23
Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor of Content, News Editor; Business Manager & News Editor
Content warning: this article discusses antisemitism.
“I blink, and I still see my reflection in the mirror with a [Nazi] swastika on it,” a Jewish resident of 1837 Hall said.
On Oct. 6, the student came face to face with the hate symbol while on a routine trip to the single stall bathroom on the third floor of 1837. The room, as they described it, was a pleasant “safe haven.” But while washing their hands, they looked up to see a “line” drawn on the mirror. At first, they were confused.
“I had to take a step back, more back, more back … to the point where it was [a] full body view,” they recounted. “And I just see a [Nazi] swastika. Terribly drawn, but a [Nazi] swastika nonetheless.”
The student called Public Safety soon after finding the symbol. “They come in [and] take some pictures,” the student said. “[Then] they take a paper towel and they wash it off.”
The Mount Holyoke Jewish Student Union was first informed of the incident through an Instagram direct message from two individuals, according to JSU Secretary Natalie Glick ’23. From there, the JSU contacted members of the Mount Holyoke administration. The group then met to create a plan for how to move forward.
Glick wasn’t surprised by the incident.
“I think every Jewish student in this country just waits for this to happen. It literally happens at every college campus,” she said. “It was upsetting to a lot of first years and sophomores who have never had to deal with this and feel like this is not a space for them. It’s challenging to be a small school when you know that someone you may live with feels this way about you based on your religious and cultural identity,” Glick added.
The anonymous student is proud of their Jewish identity. At Mount Holyoke, they said, Jewish students have “worked really hard to try to create some sort of community … I don’t hide the fact that I’m Jewish … I’m very comfortable with it.” They specified, though, that they shouldn’t have to be the face of this incident. “I do not have the energy and time to be the flagbearer on this. It’s not my job,” they said. “It’s not my job.”
Antisemitism at Mount Holyoke
The events of Oct. 6 are not the sole example of antisemitism at Mount Holyoke. According to Giovanna Wiseman ’22, the JSU co-chair, the JSU has “heard from a lot of students that have experienced more casual forms of antisemitism just amongst their peers, [and] in interactions with professors.”
Glick recalled an incident in a class she took during her first year when she was called on by the professor to speak about Israel. The professor’s reasoning for calling on her, according to Glick, was because she was Jewish and that was her “ancestral homeland.”
“It was really upsetting to be singled out in a classroom like that,” Glick said. “I think the worst part was all of the fellow students in that class didn’t say anything, they just sat there and watched the entire exchange happen. It was the most uncomfortable situation I have ever been in on this campus.”
Glick concluded, “People [on campus] are not ready to have the conversation about [how] antisemitism is more than just being a Nazi.”
The College responds
According to Public Safety and Service Director Raymond LaBarre, after Public Safety and Service was informed of the incident, “officers responded immediately to document the scene and removed the [Nazi] swastika.” To begin their investigation, officers interviewed residents of 1837 over the course of the following week. The investigation remains open. “We are asking the community to contact Public Safety and Service … if they have any information,” LaBarre said.
“The College’s leadership team and I understand the harm and fear this symbol has provoked on our campus,” President Sonya Stephens said in a letter to the community sent shortly after the incident. “We join you in both anger and grief and condemn in the strongest terms this provocation and all symbols of hate, which have no place on our campus.”
Wiseman expressed gratitude regarding the administration’s initial response, highlighting Annette McDermott and Latrina Denson from the Office of Community and Belonging. “They’ve really been our main sources of support during this,” she said. She also mentioned Amelia Ender, the Jewish chaplain at Mount Holyoke, and her fellow board members. “They’ve just handled [this] with such dignity and grace.”
According to Wiseman, antisemitism is not included in the College administration’s anti-bias training. “We’re working with [the administration] to try to get something implemented that actually educates people on what antisemitism is, how … it’s still an existing problem, even at a place like Mount Holyoke,” she said. In particular, JSU is hoping to bring educators to speak about antisemitism at the annual BOOM! conference, a campus-wide learning symposium dedicated to examining issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. However, since the conference has voluntary attendance, this education isn’t guaranteed. Wiseman hopes that in the future, antisemitism awareness training will be built into the orientation curriculum.
JSU hosts open Shabbat service
On Oct. 15, the JSU held an open Shabbat service, inviting allies of the Jewish community to attend to learn about how to best support the Jewish members of the Mount Holyoke community. The event was conducted as a standard Shabbat service but took place outside, in the garden next to Abbey Chapel. Along with prayer books, handouts and flyers about antisemetic tropes, the differences between types of swastikas and ways to support Jewish students circulated in a large crowd.
Wiseman hoped to spend time at the open Shabbat service addressing and debunking Jewish tropes. In particular, she honed in on the stereotype that all Jewish people are rich and white. “It certainly isn’t true,” she said. “Most Jews are white, but not all Jews are white and not all Jews here are white. We have a good number of Jews of color in our community,” she said.
According to Glick, members of the JSU Board were “shocked” at the number of people who attended. “We really thought everyone forgot what happened and so it was really nice to see that many people,” she said.
From this service, Glick hopes members of the Mount Holyoke community will realize that Jewish students are a minority group on campus. “I hope the fact that very few people spoke [at Shabbat] was representative of the fact that there aren’t a lot of Jews here,” she said. Additionally, Glick hopes “people were able to hear what we were saying and respect what we were saying and take time to process it.” She continued, “It’s hard as a Jewish student to constantly have to remind people the way they are causing harm. Especially after [Shabbat], I hope people are now more cautious of what they are doing.”
Wiseman noted that many students might never have met a Jewish student at Mount Holyoke. “The Shabbat tonight is an opportunity for allies to come and … see actually what our religious practices are,” Wiseman said. “It’s also a place for people to take the initiative to get educated.”
Students also gathered in support of Jewish students on Shabbat immediately following the incident. Though Wiseman could not attend Shabbat on Oct. 8, she was moved by images of students encircling the Elliot House. “We had this protection [from] others, which felt really nice, and it was really moving to see so many community members out there in support of us,” Wiseman said.
This incident has publicized what it is like to be Jewish at Mount Holyoke, according to Wiseman. “I’ve definitely felt like people are a bit more aware of what Jewish students’ experiences can be like,” she said.
“I just hope this is a learning lesson for people to realize that antisemitism is real,” Glick said. “We’re not making this up and we’re not being dramatic, this is a very real problem in this country, in this world and on this campus. When we say that we do not feel safe here, we’re not saying that to be dramatic and get attention, we genuinely do not feel safe here. It’s the responsibility of the community to do the work to make sure that we do feel safe here.”