A Vision for Inclusive Campuses: Balancing Comfort and Conflict Through Dialogue

Last summer I attended the Hillel International Global Student Assembly over Shabbat. This created the challenge of having a Shabbat morning service that was comfortable for all students, whether they preferred mixed or separate seating. The solution was a tri-chitza, a mechitza (a divider) that had three sections: men, women, and mixed. I was sitting with a member of the Hillel student cabinet at lunch and everyone was complaining: I hated it–why was there mixed seating; I hated it –why was there separated seating. Then, she remarked that’s the joy of the tri-cheitza, no one is happy but everyone is comfortable. We all were complaining but the full mens, womens, and mixed sections showed no one felt so uncomfortable that they could not pray that morning or left to form a prayer group of their own elsewhere.

I think we can learn a lot from the tri-chitza. Both the pro-Israel and anti-Israel students are always going to think the university should be doing something else, preferably that groups idea of what is correct. Yet, how can we at the same time ensure everyone is comfortable on campus, even if they are not happy with some actions. Pushing all students to sit in tense conversations and to hear those they disagree with while at the same time ensuring everyone is comfortable on campus. To me that is when a valuable education and experience for a diverse group of students will take place: no one is happy but everyone will be comfortable.

Right now we are not at a point where Jewish students feel comfortable on campus. I want to make it clear that I am not scared to be Jewish. I am frustrated by a lack of dialogue and exhausted from constantly having to defend my Judaism and Zionism. Nonetheless, I am proud of my identity. I wear my Hebrew name necklace and an Israeli flag pin on my backpack every day with pride. However, antisemitism on campus is not just uncomfortable background noise but it actively makes it difficult for students like me to engage in our studies.

At the beginning of my college career I ran for freshmen representative of the Jewish Student Association. I got the position and directly before my first meeting with the JSA I encountered my first experience with antisemitism on GW’s campus. I got to the second floor of the Hillel building a few hours early to write an essay, blissfully unaware that there was a GW for Israel event happening on the roof. As I typed away I began to hear chanting outside the building. Students with Palestinian flags had gathered outside of the building to protest the speaker GWI was hosting. I informed a Hillel staff member of what was going on and she instructed me to stay in the building until she got further information. I was on the second floor alone for an hour while protestors yelled at me, the only person they could see in the building due to everyone else being on the roof. According to the protestors yelling at me I was a war criminal and had the blood of Palestinians on my hands. It was only because I had chosen to be in a Jewish space that these accusations were thrown at me, they knew nothing of my actual beliefs on the conflict.

Flash forward to this year, a few weeks after October 7th. Now the Jewish Student Association Co-President I was responsible for helping set up Shabbat dinner. I showed up to begin my normal routine of laying out table clothes and pouring grape juice. However, as I crossed H street I realized I could see directly into the first floor, not something I had been able to do for a while because we had put up posters of the hostages in the large Hillel windows to advocate for them to be brought home. The rest of my Shabbat evening was spent talking on the phone with Hillel staff, helping tap people into the building because due to security concerns we could not leave the doors unlocked for services and dinner, and filing a police report. Our holy, peaceful Shabbat felt completely violated due to someone else’s decision to tear down our posters in our building beforehand.

Despite rising tensions on campus, I am proud of what the Jewish community has accomplished and our refusal to abandon hope.

As the Israel Policy Forum Atid Fellow on campus I hosted three learning cohorts over the last year. Speakers included experts on Israeli policy, experts on Palestinian affairs, including a Palestinian activist, and an expert on Middle East peace building. It gave Jewish students a space to question and explore their beliefs about Israel. There were tense moments, for sure. Hillel’s Israel Fellow and the Palestinian activist had a long debate over the word occupation and the tension was palpable. However, everyone came away from these conversations with a better understanding of their own beliefs and others beliefs. And, at the end of that tense conversation the Israeli and Palestinian voices got up and shook hands. Yes, many people were unhappy with views shared in the learning cohort and many students disagreed greatly with each other. But, everyone was comfortable enough to come back to the table for the next meeting.

I can guarantee you we can find a way to make all students comfortable on campus even if, like the tri-chitza, students are still unhappy with certain decisions. There might be a lot of complaining, but it will be accompanied by an expanded understanding of one another, greater empathy, and less hatred. Antisemitism must be addressed on campus but in a way that does not just combat one act of antisemitism, rather one that works to promote greater understanding so that Jewish students can feel comfortable on campus and the hard conversations can begin.

Alana Mondschein (she/her/hers) is a third year student at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs studying Middle Eastern Studies. She was the 2023-2024 Jewish Student Association Co-President and Israel Policy Forum Atid Fellow. Alana delivered the above speech at the GW Summer Institute on Antisemitism.