In response to anti-Israel protests on campuses across the country, Brandeis, a historically Jewish university in Massachusetts, announced it would extend its deadline for transfer applications to May 31, and that it was prepared to accept a larger-than-typical number of transfer students.
In an open letter on Monday, the university’s president, Ronald D. Liebowitz, wrote that “Jewish students are being targeted and attacked physically and verbally, preventing them from pursuing their studies and activities outside of class, just because they are Jewish or support Israel.”
He promised that in contrast to other colleges, Brandeis would provide an environment “free of harassment and Jew-hatred.”
In a Tuesday phone interview, Dr. Liebowitz said that Brandeis students — about one-third of whom are Jewish — have a broad range of opinions on the Israel-Hamas war, noting that many are critical of the Israeli government and in favor of Palestinian rights.
But he also said Brandeis would take action in response to speech that he characterized as “gratuitous” and crossing a “red line,” such as that which argued that Israel did not have the right to exist or that the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 was a legitimate form of resistance.
In November, the university cut ties with its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, preventing it from using the Brandeis name, receiving university funds or hosting events in campus facilities.
This week, as protest has convulsed some other campuses, Brandeis students have been on spring break, to coincide with the Passover holiday.
