Update: Antisemitism and Harassment

May 3, 2024

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community,

Last month I called upon our community to condemn acts of antisemitism, following a disturbing increase of such reports on our campus.  Antisemitism will not be tolerated at Rutgers–New Brunswick.

The university is investigating reports of incidents targeting Jewish students, faculty, or staff because of their religious identity. Today I can report progress on the investigation into one incident: The unauthorized use of a student’s image on posters placed in their residence hall.

On April 30, the Rutgers University Police Department, in cooperation with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, charged two Rutgers–New Brunswick students with harassment in connection with this incident. We will continue cooperation with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. In addition, Rutgers has in place procedures and policies to address violations of the Student Code of Conduct. We are taking appropriate action.

As I said on April 22, acts of antisemitism, bias, intimidation, and harassment have no place at Rutgers. To support our community, I encourage everyone to use our Bias Incident Reporting and Response resources and Discrimination and Harassment Complaint resources.

I look forward to the recommendations from the task force reviewing the procedures around codes of conduct and codes of ethics. Our newly formed Bias Response Care Team will continue to provide outreach and support for students who experience acts of bias.

To be clear, our work is far from over. We are committed to expanding educational programs, refining our policies and procedures to better protect our community from discrimination and enable timely response, and enhancing our support processes and resources for those affected by harassment and bias incidents.

We are a strong community, rooted in compassion, academic freedom, and the ability to unite across differences. We are stronger together.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University–New Brunswick