As the new academic year begins across North America, university presidents who participated in the March of the Living in Poland are committed to do more to protect Jewish students and stand against hate on campus.
Since the October 7th massacre in Israel, violent antisemitism has surged on campuses across the U.S. and Canada. Jewish students have been harassed relentlessly, with some forced to study remotely or hide their Jewish identity. Those who remained on campus often faced hostility not only from fellow students but from faculty as well. In many cases, university leadership failed to act, allowing chants such as “Globalize the Intifada” and calls for the destruction of Israel and harm to Jews to go unchecked.
The now-infamous congressional hearing featuring the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT — where the phrase “It depends on the context” was uttered in response to questions about whether inciting genocide violated university rules — marked a turning point in public awareness of university inaction.
The U.S. administration has since adopted a stricter policy toward universities that fail to address antisemitism or protect Jewish students. While that shift is expected to help, other approaches are essential given the epidemic in antisemitism that we are confronting.
Over the past two years, International March of the Living — a global Holocaust education and remembrance organization — brought more than 15 university presidents, representing more than 125 institutions of higher education, from North America and Europe to Poland for a weeklong educational journey. The program culminated on Holocaust Remembrance Day, with the March of the Living between Auschwitz and Birkenau, where 1.1 million innocent people - including over one million Jews - were murdered during the Holocaust.
Barbara Bockstahler, (Vice Rector, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna) and Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis (President, Benedict College) at the International March of the Living broadcast.
The presidents participated in in-depth tours, educational seminars, and reflective sessions, hearing firsthand the experiences of Holocaust survivors and guided by distinguished scholars with expertise in the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights: Professor Steven Katz, Chair, Holocaust Studies, Boston University, and former Director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies & Dr. Sharon Kangisser Cohen, Director of the Eli and Diana Zborowski Centre for the Study of the Aftermath of the Holocaust, and Editor in Chief of "Yad Vashem Studies."
During their time in Poland, the presidents learned about Jewish life before the war, the roots of antisemitism, and the devastating impact of Nazi ideology.
The program conceived and directed by Prof. David Machlis, Vice Chairman of the International March of the Living and economics professor at Adelphi University, was a direct response to the alarming rise of campus antisemitism.
“Education is the most effective tool to combat hatred, and the American academic system has failed in this regard,” said Prof. Machlis. “Ignorance among students and indifference among leadership — both swept up in a wave of antisemitism — cannot be tolerated. As an educator devoted to Holocaust memory for over 4 decades, I believed that bringing university presidents to Poland to see firsthand the consequences of antisemitism would spark a moral awakening and a duty to educate against all forms of hate.”
Accompanying the presidents was Holocaust survivor Eva Kuper, born in Poland in 1940. After being forced into the Warsaw Ghetto with her family, Eva escaped and spent the rest of the war in hiding with Catholic nuns. After the war, her family lived as non-Jews out of fear, and Eva only learned of her Jewish identity on the ship to Canada in 1948. She has since participated in numerous March of the Living programs as an educator.
Reflecting on the university program, Kuper said: “I hold on to the hope that the effects, the learnings and the experience of our trip will trickle down to teaching staff, students and campuses. Perhaps that will give rise to an acceptance of the ‘other,’ to understanding and civil discourse.”
“Many years on the March of the Living programs showed me that the participants, once they have learned the history, seen the evidence, have listened to the stories told by their educators and by survivors like myself, will be ready to accept the responsibility of becoming witnesses themselves. It is the legacy of what we, the survivors, lay on their shoulders.”
The university presidents who joined the delegation described the experience as transformative.
Dr. Lori White, President of DePauw University stated: “The March of the Living University Presidents’ mission enhanced and reinforced my commitment to antidiscrimination work: to learn from the past so that a more tolerant and just society evolves for the betterment of all humankind. The mission is particularly important at this moment in our country’s history as we witness the ugliness of antisemitism.”
“Standing in the sacred grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau, walking alongside Holocaust survivors, and bearing witness to the resilience of the Jewish people, not only deepened my understanding of history’s darkest chapter — it also reignited my own sense of purpose and moral responsibility. This was a transformative experience, and I left Poland profoundly moved and unequivocally committed to doing more to confront and eradicate all forms of hate, bigotry and discrimination,” said Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, President of Benedict College.
President White along with President Artis will share their experiences on the university presidents' mission at the annual meeting of the Commission of Independent Colleges (CIC) which has a membership in excess of 700 institutions of higher education.
Jenna Colvin, President of the Georgia Independent College Association (GICA) echoed: “The March of the Living program was one of the most profound and humbling experiences of my life—walking through the historical landscapes of the Holocaust alongside survivors and scholars was not only deeply moving, but transformative. Bearing witness is not just an act of remembrance — it is an act of moral leadership.”
Elizabeth Puthoff, President of Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT) concluded: “The March of the Living’s University Presidents delegation was a transformational experience — one of the most sobering and meaningful of my professional life. It deepened my understanding of the atrocities of the Holocaust and reaffirmed the responsibility we have, as educators and leaders, to confront antisemitism, racism, and all forms of hatred.”
These university presidents represent hundreds of campuses and tens of thousands of students. As they return, they do so with a powerful clarity — that fighting hate is no longer a matter of politics or policy, but a question of conscience. After walking the silent tracks to Birkenau and hearing the voices of survivors who were once children hiding in fear, the message is no longer abstract.
"There is no “context” in which hatred is acceptable", said Prof. Machlis. "There is only the imperative: Never Again". “With the extraordinary outreach we have developed, March of the Living is clearly having a significant impact in combating antiemitism and indeed all forms of hatred on college campuses. With sufficient support we should be able to reach far greater numbers of presidents to participate in future programs. The potential impact on these presidents and their students is of immeasurable value”, he added.
This article was written in collaboration with International March of the Living.