UC Berkeley Pledges to Expand Anti-Semitism Education to All New Students

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in front of Sproul Hall during a planned protest at the University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley, California, Monday, April 22, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS)

Pro-Palestinian students disrupted an MSU Board of Trustees meeting Friday, June 28, 2024, as Trustee Sandy Pierce spoke about the university’s trust fund. The board listened to the protesters for several minutes, then left the room for several minutes before returning to resume the meeting. (Kim Kozlowski/The Detroit News/TNS)

A pro-Palestinian activist speaks during a march near the University of Pittsburgh, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Participants in a rally organized in part by Pitt students gathered for a pro-Palestinian rally that began with a few speakers and then a march from the University of Pitt Pittsburgh to Carnegie Mellon University and back. (Sebastian Foltz/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS)

LOS ANGELES — The University of California at Berkeley will expand anti-Semitism classes for all new students starting this fall after pro-Palestinian protests sparked unrest among many Jewish members of the campus, Chancellor Carol Christ announced last week.

For the first time, the campus will provide a five-year financial commitment to expand educational activities that began on a much smaller scale in 2019 to all new students, leaders of official student organizations and resident assistants.

Berkeley will also strengthen the Center for Jewish Studies with a new name, which will enable it to have its own departments and lecturers and begin a staff search. The new field of Israeli studies, which has been in the works for years, will start this fall.

The new programs will aim to counter the “deeply disturbing” increase in anti-Semitism at Berkeley and elsewhere since the Hamas-led terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, Christ said in a letter to members of her advisory committee on student life and campus Jewish climate.

“I understand and acknowledge that many members of our Jewish community have felt deeply disturbed, even insecure, by the presence and persistence of statements that have been reasonably perceived as anti-Semitic,” Christ wrote. “You can be assured that there is no complacency among campus leadership on these issues.”

Other events from the past week:

— The Michigan State University Board of Trustees was in the middle of a regular board meeting Friday, approving a 2.7% tuition increase, when pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the board and demanded the university cease its investments in Israel.

— University of Pittsburgh police have charged a man with rioting and aggravated assault in connection with a pro-Palestinian encampment on Pitt’s campus earlier this month. This is the third protester charged by university police. Court documents show Cole Florkewicz, 24, of Pittsburgh, also faces charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing law enforcement.

— Following pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses across the country, the University of Central Florida banned camping on campus last week and limited the duration of protests. The UCF Board of Trustees approved the ban as part of an update to the university’s regulations on “university facilities; events and protests.”