Image by facebook

BOSTON (JTA) — Campus police at a Massachusetts college are investigating an incident of harassment against a Jewish student.

The incident took place last week at Hampshire College, a small liberal arts school in Amherst, about 90 miles west of Boston.

The college’s president, Jonathan Lash, condemned the incident, but no further details have been released to the public.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

In a memo to the Hampshire community, Lash wrote that the campus police responded to a report of “an act of blatant and deplorable anti-Semitism” that took place in the middle of the night in an area with student housing.”

“The incident is being treated as a criminal matter and is under active investigation,” he wrote. Lash urged anyone with information to immediately contact the campus police.

Robert Trestan, regional director of the New England Anti Defamation League, said while it’s important for the college to have the leeway to investigate, it must be followed up with transparency.

“It’s important for the community to know exactly what happened,” he told JTA in a phone conversation.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount