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Campus Anti-Semitism
1999
Veteran Holocaust-denier Bradley Smith, who runs a group called
the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust, continued his longtime
campaign seeking to place paid advertisements in college and university
newspapers. These ads, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, cast doubt
on the reality of the Holocaust. This year, he produced both a new
quarter-page ad and a separate 27-page newsprint document designed
as a supplemental insert into campus newspapers. He found nine takers
for his ad and two -the campus newspapers at Hofstra University
and Boise State University - which distributed his insert.
Through the combined efforts of ADL:s Campus/Higher Education Affairs
Department and Regional Offices, often working with Hillel and other
organizations, the alarm has been heard in the campus journalistic
community regarding Smith's campaign. ADL has produced a counteraction
packet that has been distributed to campuses across the country.
The ADL Web site contains an extensive documentation and analysis
of the Holocaust-denial campaign that is widely accessed on many
campuses.
The League continues to maintain its vigilance and increase efforts
at counteraction. One item of particular note is a forthcoming invitational
colloquium, cosponsored by ADL and The New York Times, in
which top professional journalists from The Times will work
with campus newspaper editors to develop professionally valid standards
of advertising acceptability and suitability. Our hope is that this
program will result in campus journalists coming to understand more
fully that the rejection of Holocaust-denial and other hate group
advertisements is fully in accord with all accepted standards of
freedom of speech and of the press.
Hate on campus has not been restricted to the Holocaust-denial
campaign. ADL has worked with Northwestern University in responding
to the repeated efforts of Matt Hale, head of the white supremacist
group, The World Church of the Creator, to come onto the campus
and register his so-called "church" as a recognized religious
association. ADL worked with the Housing and Student Affairs staff
at Fordham University to craft a response to an outbreak of swastika
graffiti in the dormitories. The League worked with Georgetown University
and with local and Federal law enforcement authorities when a Menorah
on campus was vandalized and subsequently attacked a second time.
Counteraction and Prevention
ADL programs on campus seek to prevent acts of bigotry as well
as respond to them. These programs include the Albert Finkelstein
Memorial Study Mission to Poland, Bulgaria and Israel for Campus
Newspaper Editors, the Bess Myerson Campus Journalism Awards, and
the Samuel and Mildred Levine Institute to Combat Bigotry on
Campus. ADL Campus Affairs staff recently provided a comprehensive
workshop on responding to acts of hate and hate crimes to the entire
corps of Resident Advisers at Ohio State University. ADL's A CAMPUS
OF DIFFERENCE" program is bringing effective anti-bias education
training to many campuses and The "Blacks and Jews in Conversation"
program brings Jewish and African-American state court judges to
campus to promote intergroup dialogue.
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