An incident on the University of Rochester campus this week where hundreds of posters targeting specific staff, faculty and trustees were plastered across the campus, has garnered a strong reaction, both locally and nationally.
According to UR President Sarah Manglesdorf, several of the people depicted in the posters appeared to have been targeted because they are Jewish. Reportedly some of those posters have the word ‘Wanted’ across them, and that’s something that Meredith Dragon, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, said can make people feel unsafe.
“And you think about people whose faces have been plastered all over campus now, accused of terrible things that people don’t necessarily know is right or wrong, but it’s directly putting members of the community in danger, on campus and out and about in the community,” said Dragon.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), also addressed the issue on the floor of the Senate this week.
“I condemn the loathsome actions of those who put up these wanted posters. Any attempt – any attempt – to threaten or target someone simply because of their Jewish identity is antisemitism, plain and simple,” Schumer said.
Both Schumer and Dragon called for people responsible for those posters to be held accountable.
In her statement this week, Manglesdorf said the university’s public safety department is leading an investigation to hold those involved with the posters, accountable for their actions. And on Wednesday, a statement from Chief Quchee Collins of the university's Department of Public Safety said that they have identified "several persons of interest." Collins' statement said that those persons include current students, individuals whose current enrollment status is unclear, and other individuals.
Collins also said that the Dept. of Public Safety has reached out to each individual targeted in the posters to offer additional safety support and resources. He also said that colleagues from other institutions have seen similar activity to what was seen at the University of Rochester.
In the statement this week from the UR president, Manglesdorf wrote that the university “strongly denounces the recent display” (of ‘Wanted’ posters), calling the act “disturbing, divisive and intimidating” and said it runs counter to “our values as a university."
The University of Rochester and a number of other universities across the U.S. were the scene of protests earlier this year regarding the war in Gaza, with some protesters calling for universities to divest themselves from having any ties with Israel.
The poster incident at UR has garnered media attention in the U.S. and abroad, and Dragon said communities will be watching how the university handles this investigation.
“We know that there’s a dramatic rise in antisemitism across the United States, particularly on college campuses,” said Dragon. “We know that the hate crimes against Jews have gone up astronomically, over 400 percent this year.”
Dragon added that often the Jewish community is asked how they are going to respond to an incident like this, but she said people should realize “this isn’t just a Jewish community problem.” Drago said it “is a problem for everybody to fix,” and she said the Jewish community needs its friends and allies to stand with them.
At the University of Rochester, the Wednesday statement issued by the Dept. of Public Safety chief said that the university's Division of Student Life is also providing mental health support resources for "students feeling affected by these events." He also said the university has been working with various federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in the investigation.
