New and returning college students and other campus community members are getting “provocative” greetings about antisemitism from above the streets of Tallahassee.
Four pink and white billboards with slogans such as “Being Jewish shouldn’t require campus security” have recently been put up near Florida State University and in other areas of the capital by a national nonprofit organization called JewBelong.
The aim: Raise awareness of on-campus antisemitism. Classes at FSU start Aug. 25.
All the billboards are scheduled to be displayed much of fall semester, from Aug. 18 to Nov. 10, according to a release. The slogans and their locations are:
“Being Jewish shouldn’t require campus security.” (W. Tennessee St. & Caliark St.; West Tennessee and Bronough streets.)
“Jewish students don’t need your pity. Just your spine.” (E. Park Ave. & Magnolia Drive)
“You don't need to be a Jew to protect Jews.” (Mahan and Spottsware Drives.)
“It’s a terrifying time to be a Jewish college student,” JewBelong Co-Founder Archie Gottesman said in the organization's Aug. 18 release.
“Jewish students do not feel safe and are up against some of the worst antisemitism of our lifetime. The Jewish community is only 2% of the entire country, so we need to work extra hard to break through to the wider American public.”
The initiative comes after an antisemitic harassment case at FSU resulted in a university employee and graduate student, facing a misdemeanor battery charge.
In a short video that went viral on social media, an altercation between the woman and a Jewish student showed her flipping off and yelling at a man sitting inside the Leach Student Recreation Center on campus before apparently shoving the man.
More: FSU grad student employee faces misdemeanor battery charge after 'antisemitic harassment'
In a statement following the incident, the university said that it “strongly condemns antisemitism in all forms and follows Florida law, which protects Jewish students and employees from discrimination motivated by antisemitism, harassment, intimidation and violence.”
Although the “thought-provoking” billboard messages follow the recent presence of antisemitism on FSU’s campus, the campaign is part of a larger nationwide initiative targeting 13 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One football campuses, according to a JewBelong spokesperson. Those institutions also include the University of Florida.
The New York City-based organization, which focuses on fighting antisemitism and making Judaism accessible, put the billboards up ahead of FSU's Aug. 30 football season opener on campus against the University of Alabama.
“Schools need to do better,” Gottesman said in the release. “Jewish students deserve to be safe on campus.”
The college campuses with billboard slogans near them are:
University of Oklahoma
University of Mississippi
University of Alabama
University of Florida
Florida State University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Kansas
Louisiana State University
University of Michigan
Clemson University
Pennsylvania State University
University of Utah
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tarah Jean is the higher education reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat, a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida. She can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU students to see bold messages on antisemitism as classes begin
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