NYC’s New School rejects student senate’s vote to defund and cut ties with Hillel

Vote appears to be first by a student government to cut off Hillel, long the central address for US campus Jewish life, but school says senate doesn’t ‘have the authority’ to do so

NEW YORK — The New School, a private university in New York City, on Saturday rejected a student government vote to defund and cut ties with the campus chapter of Hillel.

The New School’s student senate voted on Friday to strip funding and stop collaboration with the campus chapter of the Jewish student organization, claiming violations of “international law” due to volunteer opportunities it has offered with the Israel Defense Forces, along with other Israel programs and trips.

The vote appeared to be the first time a university’s student government has severed ties with its chapter of Hillel, long seen as the main address for Jewish life on most American campuses.

For years, and especially since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and start of the Gaza war, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel students have called on their universities to stop working with Hillel, citing its connections to Israel. Hillel International and other Jewish groups have said that efforts to shut down the premier Jewish student organization are antisemitic.

A statement from the student senate at the New School, which has a historical reputation for radical politics, said the senate’s registered student organization compliance committee designated Hillel “not in good standing,” and that it was ineligible for funding from or collaboration with the senate, in any capacity, effective immediately.

The senate justified the decision by claiming “extensive ties to violations of international law” by Hillel due to its connection to the IDF, citing trips where Hillel members volunteered on Israeli military bases.

A 38-page report from the committee also cited Hillel’s promotion of 10-day Birthright trips and other programs in Israel.

Israel has been accused of war crimes in international courts in cases that are still pending, but there have been no convictions. Israel adamantly denies the allegations and says it adheres to international law.

“To continue to fund Hillel at the New School would mean that your student fees would be used to support violations of international law,” the statement said. “Our shared values require us to enforce our policies until Hillel agrees to affirm and abide by international law.”

To reinstate funding, Hillel must sever all ties with and renounce Hillel International, and end participation in Israel programs, the student senate said.

But on Saturday, the umbrella body Hillel International said it was in talks with the New School following the vote. Subsequently, a spokesperson for the university told The Times of Israel that the student senate does not have the power to defund or cut ties with Hillel.

“The New School’s University Student Senate does not have the authority to determine the recognition, funding eligibility, or official status of registered student organizations,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Our Hillel chapter remains, as it always has been, in good standing, eligible for funding, and supporting Jewish life at The New School.”

The statement added, “The administration is taking immediate steps to address the USS’s action and ensure it acts within its actual purview, now and going forward.”

This isn’t the first time the school’s student government has tried, unsuccessfully, to use student group funding as a lever to target Israel. In 2024, it attempted to block funding to all student groups, demanding “divestment from industries implicated in military and police violence in Gaza and the West Bank.” But the university’s administration circumvented that vote.

Around that time, the school also employed an anti-Zionist rabbinical student to work with some Jewish students on the campus for one year.

Last year, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said the New School was among 60 universities being investigated for alleged antisemitic discrimination.

The student senate report on Hillel claimed that its determination was “not based on political opinion, religious identity, ideological disagreement, or disagreement over free speech.” But in the statement Saturday opposing the senate’s vote, the New School spokesperson cited its commitment to combating discrimination.

“The New School was founded on a rejection of violence, hate, and discrimination toward any individual or group, and a commitment to understanding, learning, and open dialogue,” the statement said. “Those values apply to every member of our community, without exception.”

Hillel International’s president also slammed the vote to defund one of its chapters.

“The New School famously sheltered Jewish intellectuals fleeing Nazi persecution — and yet its student senate voted to deprive Hillel of funding unless it severs ties with Hillel International, the world’s largest and most inclusive Jewish student organization,” Adam Lehman told The Times of Israel in a statement.

He added, “Demonizing Hillel with false charges rooted in age-old antisemitic tropes is wrong, plain and simple. We are in active conversations with university leadership and Jewish community partners to ensure every Jewish student at The New School has access to the Hillel experience, support, and resources they deserve.”