Thread by @cindyfsolomon

the New School started in 1933 as a primary refuge for European scholars fleeing fascist regimes, saving >300 individuals & creating the "University in Exile" (later Graduate Faculty) focused on progressive thought & intellectual freedom, created a welcoming environment for Jews

https://twitter.com/AvivaKlompas/status/2050612381860966622

Founded in 1919 & famous in 1933, the New School's Original Mission: It served as a primary refuge for European scholars—mostly Jewish—fleeing fascist and Nazi regimes.

2026 The New School de-funds a primary space for Jewish identity and religious practice (Hillel), the school is now excluding the very group it was once founded to protect.

Hillel is a non-political space for Shabbat and holidays, for Jewish students to gather in a safe space to sing, pray, celebrate and unite in a family atmosphere. Targeting Hillel is a "revolting act of bigotry" that discriminates based on religious and ethnic identity.

the suspension of Hillel at The New School is rooted in "ignorant propaganda" rather than factual or intellectual basis is a central point of contention for many critics, scholars, and Jewish advocacy groups

Hillel is an international organization dedicated to Jewish campus life (Shabbat, holidays, and community). Critics argue that holding a religious/cultural group responsible for the actions of a foreign government (Israel) is a "collective punishment" & historically antisemitic

Misapplication of "Genocide": While the student government report uses the term "genocide," critics note that this is a highly contested legal term. They argue its use in this context is a "propaganda tool" designed to bypass nuanced debate about the complexities of the conflict.

Historians often point out that the framework used to delegitimize Jewish institutions often predates current events, drawing from Soviet-era "Zionology" or older tropes that frame Jewish self-determination as inherently malevolent or "colonial."

Founding Irony: The school was literally built to save Jewish intellectuals from a regime that used state propaganda to exclude them from public life.

By allowing "conspiracy-based" reports to dictate who can have a space on campus, the school has inverted its original mission—moving from a refuge for the persecuted to a place where certain identities are systematically marginalized through administrative voting.

A dangerous trend where campus "compliance" committees increasingly evaluate religious organizations through a political litmus test that legal experts say violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on shared ancestry.