Identity Standards at University Publications, RIT, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In the four academic semesters since October 7, 2023, anti-Israel protests organized by Hamas sympathizers have overtaken some schools and tarnished the reputation of American academia. The Ivy League schools have been particularly soiled by a combination of ignorant students, radical professors, and weak administrations that coddle them.

On the contrary, the Rochester Institute of Technology, where I teach, dealt with pro-Hamas, antisemitic protests differently. While many schools are destroying their brands, RIT fought back.

The RIT brand has always centered on innovative and creative uses of technology. The university prides itself on the success of its career-driven, motivated students of engineering, imaging, and computer science, and more recently of game design, film, and animation. We have Army and Air Force ROTC programs, and various defense and military research, including funding from the Space Force.

Just as important as what RIT has is what it doesn't have – no Middle East studies department and no Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter. The absence of the former protects us from the most educated Israel haters, while the absence of the latter protects us from the least educated Israel haters. However, nearby University of Rochester and Syracuse University have both, so we are not immune from Israel haters.

Anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrations seemed ubiquitous on college campuses almost immediately after October 7, but RIT was spared that ugliness for over a month. I had been on the lookout for demonstrations and was proud of the students for not aping the antics of those at other New York colleges. Nor were there any flyers around campus commenting on the war in Gaza or announcing upcoming protests.

On October 13, I saw about a dozen masked people, some sporting keffiyehs, loitering on one of the campus green spaces, but there were no chants or signs. If this was a protest, these were real amateurs.

Basem Ashkar, Photos by author /PIC]And then, one month later, on November 13, 2023, the pro-Hamas infection came to RIT. The Muslim Students Association (MSA) held a demonstration at which protesters, many of them masked, openly cheered for the elimination of Israel, defended the Hamas murder-rape-decapitation massacre, and called for an Intifada "from New York to Palestine." This was not the RIT I knew. 5990

The November 13th event was dominated by outsiders. There were speakers from the University of Rochester's SJP chapter, from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and from local, non-academic, anti-Israel organizations. The ring leader was Basem Ashkar, a local protester active in anti-Israel demonstrations since at least 2021.

Evidence of professional agit-prop organizations was visible in the protestors' signs. Black lettering on a yellow background provided by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition proclaimed that "RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED WHEN PEOPLE ARE OCCUPIED." Black lettering against a white background provided by the Party for Socialism and Liberation proclaimed that "RESISTANCE AGAINST OCCUPATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT!"

Photo by author

The crowd did not look like a typical gathering of the RIT students I have seen for the last 26 years. I wondered how many were paid professionals.

Some didn't look like RIT students at all, for instance the person in the photo to the left (who stood a head taller and looked decades older than most college students) holding a hand-written sign in Arabic.

Translation: "We will sacrifice ourselves for you holy Aqsa mosque. Freedom and independence for Jerusalem and Palestine."

Photo by author

Some hand-made signs didn't look like the work of college students at all.

The shouts of "Allahu Akbar," (Arabic for "Allah is the greatest" – the Jihad battle cry) rang through the crisp November air, and the sounds of ululating women reminded me of the infamous video of Palestinians in Jerusalem celebrating news of the 9/11 attacks as their loathsome leaders handed out candy to children.

At one point the protesters were led in an Arabic chant Yasser Arafat used to promote suicide bombing during the second Intifada:

Translation:

"With our souls and blood we will sacrifice for Al-Aqsa

With our souls and blood we will sacrifice for Palestine

With our souls and blood we will sacrifice for Gaza."

I wondered how many students gleefully repeating what someone had instructed them to chant actually knew what they were saying.

I believed the hostile and antisemitic protest constituted a violation of RIT policy, so I initiated a complaint. I had meetings with the provost and eventually the president about the event.

RIT's lawyers determined that the "River to the Sea" chant was protected speech open to interpretation. And since the MSA had permission for its protest, they determined that no policy had been violated.

What happened next was remarkable, unique among all college campuses as far as I can tell. Instead of inaugurating a new era of campus unrest, the November 13 protest was the last one of the year. As the Fall 2023 semester ended, and the Spring 2024 semester turned into the semester of "encampments" throughout the nation, there were no more protests at RIT.

In January, rumors spread that the administration had rejected all subsequent petitions for protests. I was not able to confirm those rumors. RIT's Provost, Dr. Prabu David, told me that a single attempt to set up an "encampment" was quickly dismantled, and the people pitching tents were immediately removed from campus.

Given all the terrible approaches to anti-Israel protests throughout academia, I considered myself fortunate to teach at a school that endured one disgusting display and then somehow, quietly and effectively, prevented more disgusting displays. Very few schools could boast a similar record.

RIT's President David Munson is retiring this week. I met with him in November 2024 to discuss the RIT protest and how to prevent more in the future. He told me that he believes "RIT has done a good job of navigating the area between free speech and harassment. It has been easier because of the kindness of our student body and the availability of local law enforcement."

He discussed changes in policy, such as a limit of 6 hours for any approved protest, so that RIT would not become an encampment campus. We discussed the troubles that RIT's previous provost, Ellen Granberg, now president of George Washington University, faced during the academic year when she called the D.C. Metro Police to clear an "encampment" on April 26, 2024, and they refused to come. President Munson told me that he knew the Monroe County Sheriffs would respond if he called.

I asked that he be mindful that campuses with SJP chapters are troubled campuses. And while he couldn't assure me that there would never be an RIT SJP chapter, he did assure me that it could only happen through the usual vetting policy which would require a responsible faculty member as a sponsor. I left our meeting feeling confident that he would do everything possible to ensure a smooth final academic year before retiring.

The fall 2024 semester was quiet, and so too was the spring 2025 semester – until after the Spring break in late March.

It started with a single person on March 21, 2025, "protesting" in a central location with a Palestinian flag and signs decrying the "Genocide in Gaza," urging RIT to "Divest From Death," and calling to "Free Khalil."

I called RIT Security and the responding officers shut it down quickly and professionally.

On March 26, the same student, along with several others, were in the same spot, with the same flag and signs, and more.

Again, I called RIT Security, and again they shut it down quickly.

On April 4, there were still more protesters. One addressed me by name. When I asked why he was dressed like a jihadi on Halloween, he said he was protecting himself from doxxing.

I called RIT Security, and for a third time, they shut it down.

I have seen no evidence of any protests on campus since April 4.

President Munson and Provost David have won the battle, but the war continues. As RIT prepares for a new administration and a new president, it will have to watch for the disruptive and potentially illegal SJP front.

Students for Justice in Palestine at RIT logo

To complicate matters, there is now an "unofficial" chapter of SJP at RIT, using the school name and clearly violating its brand.

The group's website proclaims that its goal is to "agitate, demonstrate, and otherwise make our voices heard on the RIT campus."

RIT's struggle with pro-Hamas demonstrations shows that even when a university does what is right and necessary, it must maintain vigilance against the antisemitism of today's anti-Israel demonstrators.

Like preventing dandelions from taking over a pristine lawn, keeping anti-Israel protests at bay requires continual deterrence. There is no one-time, magical panacea.

Tomorrow at IPT: how to really "stand up" for Israel at a graduation ceremony.

Chief IPT Political Correspondent A.J. Caschetta is a principal lecturer at the Rochester Institute of Technology and a fellow at Campus Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum where he is also a Milstein fellow.

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