Jewish UM Students Letter

If you’re a Jewish UM student who would like to sign this letter, please fill out this Google Form using your UM account.

March 21, 2025

Dear President Ono,

We are a group of Jewish students at the University of Michigan. We hold a range of political views and relationships to Israel and Palestine. We take antisemitism seriously, and for this reason, we are appalled by its dangerous weaponization to target Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and immigrant students, threaten student activists, and gut institutions of higher education. We are united in denouncing the weaponization of antisemitism accusations to target our classmates, friends, teachers, and neighbors. When antisemitism is misrepresented as speech the government dislikes, it loses its meaning and causes real instances of antisemitism to be taken less seriously– further endangering Jewish students. The Trump administration is cynically making Jews the face of authoritarian repression and diluting antisemitism’s meaning through politically motivated accusations. These actions make Jews less safe. They chill free expression and make our university a less vibrant place in which to live and learn. Above all, they destabilize the lives of those who fear they will be the next victims of the Trump administration’s unlawful attacks on non-citizens, dissent, and civil liberties.

Jewish safety on campus requires a recognition of the diversity of Jews and Jewish experiences.

This includes the Jewish students who have been assaulted by campus police, banned from campus spaces, and taken to court over their political activism in solidarity with Palestinians. Above all, Jewish safety encompasses the safety of our whole campus community, safety from doxxing, harassment, employment retaliation, police violence, and deportation; it is the safety to learn and express political opinions without repression or government intervention.

The Trump administration is upending vital pillars of democracy by targeting college campuses and student activists while welcoming Nazi sympathizers into the highest positions of power. Showing true solidarity with Jewish students includes refusing to cooperate with these powerful antisemites.

We resist the unconstitutional weaponization of antisemitism. We stand with Jewish faculty and students across the country as they call on university leaders to denounce the targeting of Mahmoud Khalil and to cease voluntary collaboration with federal immigration enforcement.

As Jewish students at the University of Michigan, we urge you to:

Cease any voluntary collaboration with immigration authorities, and do not supply them with names or other personal information. Inform students individually if ICE or other federal agencies are seeking their personal information and provide them with legal counsel.
Commit university resources to protect and provide legal assistance to community members targeted by the Trump administration, and do not allow attacks on immigrant and activist students to jeopardize their university standing, support, access, or employment.
Defend every university member’s— regardless of citizenship status —constitutional right to free speech as protected by the First Amendment, without fear of internal, external, or governmental retaliation.
Do not equate constitutionally protected political speech, including criticisms of Israel and its government, with religious or racial discrimination. Reject the harmful narrative that the Palestinian solidarity movement, in which many Jews on this campus have participated, is presumptively anti-Jewish.
Resist, in collaboration with other universities, the Trump administration as it works to systematically defund our institutions and communities.
Maintain democratic university governance and accept the recommended changes to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities shared by staff, faculty, and students to reinstate the student hearing board and appeals board.

Echoing Jewish faculty and staff at the University of Michigan, our teachers and mentors,

“We know that when powerful institutions scapegoat and harass minorities, it hurts the entire community, and makes the world less safe for Jews as well. This recognition stems not only from our individual beliefs and experiences but also from core Jewish values of engaging with disagreements and protecting the strangers in our midst.”

Sincerely,

[To add your signature, please complete this Google Form from your UM account. Signatories will be updated regularly.]

List of Signatures:

#	Name	Type of Student	Department/School
1	Kristen Morgenstern	graduate student	Judaic Studies and History
2	Asa Brunet-Jailly	graduate student	English and Judaic Studies
3	Abigail Kohn	Undergraduate	Earth and Environmental Sciences
4	Lauren Haines	Undergraduate	School of Public Health
5	Deborah Pomeranz	graduate student	History
6	Briana Silberberg	Graduate, MPP	Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
7	Cassandra Euphrat Weston	PhD candidate	History and Judaic Studies
8	Erin Lichtenstein	graduate, JD	Law School
9	Alice Mishkin	Doctoral Student	American Culture, Judaic Studies, Arab and Muslim American Studies
10	Natalie Cripps	Grad	School of Public Health
11	Audrey Melillo	Undergrad	Ford School of Public Policy
12	Max Lahn	PhD	Mathematics LSA
13	Hannah Cohen	Doctoral Student	SEAS
14	Kate O'Connor	PhD	American Culture
15	Ariana Kertsman	Undergrad	LSA
16	Sam Winikow	Graduate Student	History
17	Olivia David	PhD candidate	SEAS
18	Brooke Bulmash	Grad Student	SEAS, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
19	Joseph Frankl	PhD	Mediterranean Archaeology
20	Helen Shanker	Undergraduate	Sociology/ Social Work
21	Emma Lerman	PhD	Slavic Languages and Literatures
22	Matthew Ungar	Master's Student	Education / Student Access and Success
23	Hazel Rosenblum-Sellers	Graduate	Law
24	Aaron Johnson	Grad Student	Taubman College
25	Nathan Pitock	Graduate	Law
26	James Kiselik	grad	English
27	Robin Wyllie-Scholz	undergrad	LSA
28	Brynn Aaronson	Undergrad	School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
29	Renny Hahamovitch	Graduate Student	History
30	Gabe Smithline	PhD	Computer Science and Engineering
31	Adeli Block	Graduate	Anthropology
32	Ethan Greenberg	Law	Law School
33	Caitlin Douma	Graduate	Law
34	Sara Shapiro	Graduate	Law
35	Adam Marino	graduate	Marsal School of Education
36	Ellison Hersch	Graduate Student	Law School/Taubman Urban Planning
37	Ekaterina Olson Shipyatsky	graduate	Political Science, LSA
38	Colin Garon	Graduate	Anthropology and History
39	Etan Harwayne-Gidansky	Law	Law
41	Daniel Bernstein	undergrad	Communication and Media, LSA
42	Amt Kuritzky	Grad Student	Anthropology, Environmental Health Sciences
43	Sydney Hastings-Wilkins	undergrad	School of Public Health
44	Amir Fleischmann	PhD	Political Science
45	Stephen Lehman	Grad	SEAS
46	Ben Grossman	MPP	Ford School of Public Policy
47	Eric Whitmer	Grad	Department of Musicology, School of Music, Theater & Dance
48	Eliana Adler	Undergraduate	LSA Residential College
49	Renee Firth	Law
50	Sylvan Perlmutter	Grad	History
51	Bailey Mingus	undergrad	LSA Residential College
52	Jared Eno	Graduate	LSA/Sociology and Ford/Policy
53	Leah Green	undergrad	Chemistry, LSA
54	Martin Amesquita	PhD Candidate	Germanic Languages and Literatures
55	Benjamin Kane	Law	Law
56	Jeremy Goldberg	grad	SEAS
57	Danielle Rosenscruggs	Ph.D.	Psychology/LSA
58	Mischa Schwadron	Grad	UM School of Law and Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning
59	Sara Wright	MBA	Ross School of Business
60	Danielle Levy	Grad student	SEAS & Ford
61	Shira Baker	Undergrad	History of Art, LSA
62	Isabelle Thyfault	undergrad	LSA
63	Sben Korsh	Graduate	Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
64	Emma Block	graduate	Law
65	Amelia Zuckerwise	PhD Candidate	SEAS
66	Marni Morse	Graduate	Sociology
67	Noah Weisskopf	Graduate	Law
68	Lauren Parker	Grad student	Ford School of Public Policy
69	Lindsey Bressler	Law School
70	Samantha Rich	Undergraduate	School of Public Health
71	Lucy Peterson	PhD Student	Political Science
72	Michigan Law 2L	Grad	Law
73	Ben Michalsky	BFA, BSE	Stamps, College if Engineering
74	Alex Bissell	Master's Student	School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
75	Markus Merin	Graduate student
76	Michael Mueller	Graduate student
77	Ilan Salomon-Jacob	Undergrad	School of Music, Theatre and Dance
78	Melissa Itzkowitz	JD, PhD student	Michigan Law and Michigan Anthropology Department
79	Shimon Likhtman	M.A. student	Center for Southeast Asian Studies
80	Alex Sepulveda	Undergrad	Anthropology
81	Elianna Kruskal	Undergrad	SMTD & LSA
82	Rebecca Hebert	Graduate	Public Health
83	Kit	undergrad	LSA Earth and Environmental Science
84	Allie Goodman	PhD Candidate	History
85	Abby Hartman	Undergraduate	Sociology
86	Anna Attie	MFA in Creative Writing	English
87	Avery Long	Graduate	Chemistry
88	Alex Izbiky	Graduate	Law School
89	Josie Ervin	Interarts Performance	STAMPS Art & Design and School of Music, Theatre and Dance
90	Brent Marvin	Undergrad	Computer Science @ College of Engineerng
91	Zoe Waldman	Graduate Student	History
92	Maeve Larco	Undergraduate	Ford School of Public Policy
93	Leah Michalove	PhD student
94	Gabriel Durham	Graduate	Department of Statistics
95	Taylor McClain	PhD	Biophysics
96	Sari Bovitz	Undergraduate	School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
97	Jess Siegal	Undergrad	Ford School of Public Policy
98	Kate Goldman	Undergrad	SMTD/Stamps
99	Ben Pawlak	Undergrad	School of Kinesiology, Sport Management
100	Ava Berkwits	Undergraduate	LSA (English) and STAMPS
101	Vivian Kaufman	Undergraduate	School of Public Health
102	Sheva Khaimov	Graduate	School of Social Work
103	Dariush Ahdoot	JD	Law School
104	Nikki widra	Undergrad	Ford school of public policy
105	Alex guberman	Undergrad	Ross
106	Eli	Undergrad	Please keep my name as just my first name
107	Carlie Newton	Undergrad	FTVM
108	Emma Shimovich	Undergrad	Social Theory and Practice/ LSA
109	Maya Goldshaw	undergrad	LSA, political science
110	Adam Perlstein	Undergrad	Biomedical Engineering
111	Eva Kubacki	Undergraduate	Penny Stamps School of Art & Desigb
112	Eric Jaffee	Undergrad	College of Engineering (biomedical engineering)
113	Sam Adler	Undergrad	Engineering
114	Sara Ruiz	PhD student	Slavic Languages and Literatures
116	Jessica R	Biology Health and Society Sophomore	LSA
117	Maya Elowe	undergrad	SMTD
118	Max Salemi	Undergrad	MSE CoE
119	J Ehrenkranz	Grad	Law
120	Kelsie Ehalt	PhD Candidate	Middle East Studies
121	Allie Berdon	JD	Law School