A Jewish student center at Cornell University is under guard after several online threats were made against students, as the White House warns of a rise in antisemitic hate across the nation.
On Sunday, campus police at the university’s location in Ithaca were sent to guard Cornell’s Center for Jewish Living after a series of antisemitic comments were posted to an online message board, the university’s newspaper first reported.
The remarks were posted on a website called Greekrank, an online forum meant to discuss fraternities and sororities.
In one post, an anonymous user threatened to kill Jewish students.
Other posts encouraged similar violence against Jewish students and included the address of Cornell’s kosher dining hall.
As of Monday morning, at least one threatening post is still visible on Greekrank’s website.
The Guardian could not reach a Greekrank representative about its content moderation policy or why the post was still up.
Cornell University’s president, Martha Pollack, condemned the “horrendous, antisemitic messages” posted over the weekend, in a statement.
“Threats of violence are absolutely intolerable, and we will work to ensure that the person or people who posted them are punished to the full extent of the law,” Pollack said.
“Our immediate focus is on keeping the community safe; we will continue to prioritize that.”
The New York governor, Kathy Hochul, said the “disgusting [and] hateful posts” were the “latest in a series of concerning incidents on college campuses”, adding that officials were still working to determine if they were credible threats.
Hochul said on Sunday that she had spoken with Cornell University officials to emphasize that state law enforcement would support efforts to keep students safe.
“I also reiterated our strong belief in free speech and the right to peaceful assembly, but made clear that we will have zero tolerance for acts of violence or those who intimidate and harass others through words or actions,” Hochul said in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.
The New York state attorney general, Letitia James, called the posts “horrific”, in a post to X.
“There is no space for antisemitism or violence of any kind. Campuses must remain safe spaces for our students,” James said.
A Cornell spokesperson declined to share additional details on the threats with the Guardian.
The latest incident at Cornell University comes as the Biden administration warns of increasing antisemitic incidents since the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel that killed more than 1,400 Israelis.
Since then, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes that have killed thousands of Palestinians.
The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said incidents of antisemitism were “very serious”, during a Monday TV interview with ABC’s Good Morning America.
“We’re concerned about it,” Kirby said. “It’s increasingly all around the world, but certainly we’ve seen it increase here in the United States.”
Kirby added that 2022 had the highest recorded number of antisemitic incidents in the US since 1979.
In response, the White House has included campus law enforcement in discussions with local and state police about rising hate crime and is holding roundtable discussions with Jewish students and advocacy groups.
