The Campus Anti-Semitism Task Force of the North Shore, a nonprofit organization established to provide awareness, education, and support to college students and their families based on the North Shore, will hold its first event, a panel discussion, “What’s Up at College: How Anti-Semitism is Affecting College Life.” The event will be held Sunday, October 29th from 5:30-7pm at Congregation Shirat Hayam, 55 Atlantic Ave., Swampscott.
The panel features current college students as well as recent alumni and campus professionals, who will discuss their experiences, lessons learned and steps college-bound teens can take to prepare themselves for college. The event is free and open to the public, and includes dinner; those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by email ([email protected]) or call 781-599-8005.
“College students have numerous everyday stresses: research papers, exams, hectic schedules, loans, not to mention impending careers. But experiencing hate and fear simply for being Jewish should never be one of them,” said Michael Ragozin, rabbi at Congregation Shirat Hayam and the president of the Campus Anti-Semitism Task Force of the North Shore. “Unfortunately, there’s been a recent documented rise of anti-Semitism on college campuses in the U.S., and the challenge doesn’t come just from neo-Nazis marching on the UVA campus in Charlottesville. It can be more subtle yet just as pervasive, and it emanates both from the far left and from the alt-right, which can lead Jewish students to feel isolated and alone, with no recourse.”
The goal of the Task Force, which partners with other local organizations, is to raise awareness, to educate and to help college students advocate for themselves on campus.
“One of the problems is that schools feel they have processes in place to protect students but based on the experience of members of our Task Force, we’ve found that students aren’t always aware of their school’s processes so they wind up not saying anything, and then transferring to get away from the harassment they were subjected to on campus,” Rabbi Ragozin said. “This panel discussion is designed to help college-bound students to prepare themselves and learn from the experience of current college students and recent alums.”
About The Campus Anti-Semitism Task Force of the North Shore
A non-profit, The Campus Anti-Semitism Task Force of the North Shore was founded in the wake of a disturbing trend of increased antisemitism on US college campuses. CASTF-NS was founded to provide awareness, education, and support to local college students and their families. The organization works to create informative programs for college-bound students and families alike and to provide important resources for current college students.