The end of the academic year at UC Santa Barbara offers an opportunity to assess the university’s handling of surging anti-Semitism on campus. The facts are ugly. Pro-Palestinian protesters verbally assaulted the Jewish student body president, illegally occupied the MultiCultural Center, illegally occupied Girvetz Hall, set up an illegal outdoor encampment, and violated the civil rights of Jewish students in myriad other ways.
A small number of UCSB faculty also intimidated Jewish students. One egregious example was the shocking anti-Israel statement issued by the Department of Feminist Studies following the Hamas massacres, rapes, and sexual violence last October 7.
The UCSB administration tolerated these outrages, either doing nothing or waiting far too long before taking only feeble action.