Now that we have marked the anniversary of the tragedy of Oct. 7, I want to turn our attention to the courage we began to see on Oct. 8 - especially on university campuses here in the US.
So many faculty put aside their research, writing, and professional obligations to stand up for Jewish and Israeli students at a perilous time. They stepped into roles they never imagined they would have to play, often at considerable personal and professional cost.
They never imagined that protecting students would become part of their jobs. Nor did they imagine that asking universities to extend the same protections to Jewish students that everyone else enjoys would require such extraordinary courage.
People like @BarakMendelsohn at Haverford, who has set an extraordinary example for his students. He put a mezuzah on his office door so students knew they had a safe space, only to have it torn down. He has continued to show up for students at enormous personal cost.
And @SteinSpecs at UCLA, who organized Jewish faculty through @JFRGofficial and has devoted herself to supporting colleagues and students. Her work has helped people find one another and stand together when they might otherwise have faced this alone. She's developed an important model that so many will be able to use.
Ron Hassner at Berkeley, who moved into his campus office and slept there to demand safety for Jewish students. He made his office a place where students could come and know they would not be left to face this alone.
There are so many more.
I have watched colleagues on my own campus make similar sacrifices. They have set aside writing and research, given up countless hours, and absorbed a real cost to their own productivity to support students.
The opportunity cost has been tremendous. So much of this work happens quietly, without recognition.
And for what? So Jewish and Israeli students can be treated like everyone else. So they can attend class without being harassed, spat on, threatened, or assaulted. So they can participate in university life without hiding who they are or being singled out by professors for their beliefs or identity.
Meanwhile, I have watched other faculty colleagues openly champion the dehumanization of Jewish and Israeli students and faculty.
I study violent conflict around the world. I know where this kind of dehumanization can lead. When faculty turn students into acceptable targets, when they make their dignity and safety negotiable, they create a permission structure for violence.
The irony is that some of the same faculty who warn that politicians are ushering in the death of democracy seem unwilling to examine their own role in undermining its foundations.
Courage is not easy. It carries real costs, often borne quietly and without recognition.
Getting to know these extraordinary colleagues has been one of the most unexpected gifts of the past few years. They did not seek out this fight. They stepped forward because their students needed them.
I want to thank them, for letting me learn from them. For their courage, their integrity, and their refusal to look away when it would have been so much easier to do so.
So many faculty put aside their research, writing, and professional obligations to stand up for Jewish and Israeli students at a perilous time. They stepped into roles they never imagined they would have to play, often at considerable personal and professional cost.
They never imagined that protecting students would become part of their jobs. Nor did they imagine that asking universities to extend the same protections to Jewish students that everyone else enjoys would require such extraordinary courage.
People like @BarakMendelsohn at Haverford, who has set an extraordinary example for his students. He put a mezuzah on his office door so students knew they had a safe space, only to have it torn down. He has continued to show up for students at enormous personal cost.
And @SteinSpecs at UCLA, who organized Jewish faculty through @JFRGofficial and has devoted herself to supporting colleagues and students. Her work has helped people find one another and stand together when they might otherwise have faced this alone. She's developed an important model that so many will be able to use.
Ron Hassner at Berkeley, who moved into his campus office and slept there to demand safety for Jewish students. He made his office a place where students could come and know they would not be left to face this alone.
There are so many more.
I have watched colleagues on my own campus make similar sacrifices. They have set aside writing and research, given up countless hours, and absorbed a real cost to their own productivity to support students.
The opportunity cost has been tremendous. So much of this work happens quietly, without recognition.
And for what? So Jewish and Israeli students can be treated like everyone else. So they can attend class without being harassed, spat on, threatened, or assaulted. So they can participate in university life without hiding who they are or being singled out by professors for their beliefs or identity.
Meanwhile, I have watched other faculty colleagues openly champion the dehumanization of Jewish and Israeli students and faculty.
I study violent conflict around the world. I know where this kind of dehumanization can lead. When faculty turn students into acceptable targets, when they make their dignity and safety negotiable, they create a permission structure for violence.
The irony is that some of the same faculty who warn that politicians are ushering in the death of democracy seem unwilling to examine their own role in undermining its foundations.
Courage is not easy. It carries real costs, often borne quietly and without recognition.
Getting to know these extraordinary colleagues has been one of the most unexpected gifts of the past few years. They did not seek out this fight. They stepped forward because their students needed them.
I want to thank them, for letting me learn from them. For their courage, their integrity, and their refusal to look away when it would have been so much easier to do so.
Steve McGuire@sfmcguire79 · Oct 7BREAKING: 🧵The Haverford College professor arrested and charged for antisemitic online harassment is alleged to have used anonymous X accounts to repeatedly harass an unnamed victim from October 2025 to May 2026.
The details from the federal indictment are truly vile:
The details from the federal indictment are truly vile:
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