US private schools group apologizes after criticism of antisemitic remarks during conference

By Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — A national private school group has apologized for comments made by speakers at a recent diversity and inclusion conference that were criticized by several Jewish organizations as antisemitic and perpetuating an anti-Israel bias.

The conference, known as the People of Color Conference, was held earlier this month in Denver by the National Association of Independent Schools, a group of around 1,700 private schools across the United States, including some of the nation’s most prestigious schools. The gathering aimed to promote the organization’s commitment to equity and inclusion in teaching, according to its website.

The leaders of four national Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, condemned the speakers in an open letter, calling their remarks “extreme, biased anti-Zionist and anti-Israel rhetoric” and accusing them of creating a “hostile” environment for Jewish students and faculty in attendance.

The letter, which was directed to the association’s president, said the conference’s speakers labeled “the establishment of Israel a ‘racist’ endeavor,” and accused Israel of genocide, among other “remarks and activity that normalized antisemitism.”

CNN has not seen a transcript or recording of the remarks and has reached out to NAIS.

“Jewish students and faculty attending PoCC [People of Color Conference] were forced to hear this damaging and antisemitic rhetoric repeated time and again and watch as their peers applauded,” said the letter dated last Wednesday and co-written by the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Federations of North America and Prizmah.

The letter noted that one Jewish student in attendance said “he and his peers felt ‘so targeted, so unsafe’” that they hid their Stars of David in their shirts, while others “glared and whispered.”

“These occurrences, along with others reported by Jewish attendees, display a fundamental undermining of the principles of inclusivity and equity that NAIS stands for,” the letter said.

In response to the letter, NAIS president Debra Wilson expressed remorse over what she called “divisive and hurtful rhetoric” and said the organization has begun implementing changes to vet future speakers and content included in the conference.

“No last-minute changes will be permitted without explicit review and approval,” she said, in an open letter dated the next day.

“That any student would feel the need to conceal their identity at our conference is antithetical to our mission and our values,” she wrote. “We are committed to ensuring that future NAIS events will be places where difficult topics and conversations are approached with sensitivity and care for all.”

A rise in antisemitic incidents have been reported on school campuses over the last year and comes after months of escalating tensions between university administrators and pro-Palestinian students amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Last week, an administrator with the diversity, equity and inclusion office at the University of Michigan was fired after she was accused of making antisemitic remarks. Rachel Dawson, who served as director of the university’s Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, was accused of saying that the university was “controlled by wealthy Jews” and that “Jewish people have ‘no genetic DNA’ that would connect them to the land of Israel,” according to documents obtained by CNN.

Dawson’s attorney has denied that she made those comments and said that her client will take “appropriate legal action” for what she alleges is a violation of her client’s constitutional rights as a public employee.

In recent months, Jewish civil rights and legal groups, like the Brandeis Center, have also filed complaints against school districts for allegedly failing to address the sharp increase in antisemitic incidents since Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel.

Last month, a Republican-led investigation into antisemitism on college campuses found that administrators “overwhelmingly failed” to clamp down on students and faculty who engaged in antisemitic behavior. The US House Education Committee released a 325-page report saying that college officials made “astounding concessions” to organizers of pro-Palestinian encampments while withholding support from Jewish students.

The report was published exactly six months after the US House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act –– a bill aimed at combating antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. Supporters of the legislation say it will help crack down on antisemitic hate, while opponents say that the language in the bill is overly expansive and could lead to censorship.

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