Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — A victim of the disturbing vandalism targeting members of the Jewish community at the University of Rochester shared her experiences amid outrage and an ongoing investigation.
Hundreds of posters depicting Jewish community members as “wanted” were found in buildings and classrooms across campus Sunday night.
On Monday, the university’s chief of public safety announced the department was investigating a vandalism incident involving hundreds of posters seemingly designed to intimidate members of the university community. The university said the adhesive used caused damage to the buildings.
It wasn’t until late Tuesday afternoon that the university released another statement, saying the posters targeted Jewish faculty, and they viewed it as antisemitism, calling it “disturbing and divisive.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the chief released a new statement referencing the posters as antisemitic, saying the department was working with the FBI, New York State Police, and the attorney general’s office. Additionally, it had identified several persons of interest including “current students, individuals whose current enrollment status is unclear, and other individuals.”
The “wanted” posters scattered across the campus came as an alarming discovery to Joy Getnick, who discovered her face on many. The posters depicted her and several other Jewish staff members, accusing Getnick specifically of racism, hate speech, and intimidation.
MORE: ‘Not doing enough’: Jewish students at UR on edge after ‘wanted’ signs posted on campus | ‘Deeply disturbing’: U of R’s Hillel organization condemns antisemitic posters on campus
“I don’t know who did it, but over a period of time, we realized that people had displayed hundreds of posters on campus,” Getnick reflected. “They don’t reflect who I am or what I do, and I think they speak more to the people who posted them and the hateful and biased ideas they have about Jews and Jewish life in Israel than they do about me, at least for my poster, I can say for sure.”
Getnick leads the university’s Hillel organization. Hillel is a center for Jewish life on campus.
“There are so many different ways to be Jewish,” said Getnick. “We are proudly welcoming of all kinds of Jews, and a really intentionally inclusive and welcoming space.”
Getnick said she has experienced support from others affected by the posters.
“I knew most of them. I didn’t know all of them,” said Getnick. “I haven’t spoken with all of them, but to kind of process what was happening and try to understand their reactions to it. And I think in general, people are very upset and they’re horrified to be targeted personally in that way. I’m a very public figure because I’m the director of the inclusive Jewish life organization on campus. I certainly know many students. People know me. The accusations were untrue. You know, I’ve read it so many times, the poster made accusations about me being racist and intimidating. The racism charges, an antisemitic charge against Jews that erases Jewish identity and heritage is part of a minoritized community, and just makes me some white woman with power, with this idea of that being oppressive, and that isn’t who I am. It’s not how I experience life. The other accusations were about my response to protests on our campus, which was completely inconsistent with my actual response, and also an accusation that I’m part of a committee that promotes settlement expansion in the West Bank, which I certainly am not on. There is a fabulous partnership committee between the Jewish Federation and the city of Modi’in, in which is in Israel, and it’s a People to People partnership, just like there would be sister cities between the City of Rochester and cities in Israel.”
Getnick called the posters significantly harmful.
“Makes it harder for our Jewish students to be Jewish on campus and feel that they have safe space, and that is horrible and appalling and totally unfair,” said Getnick. “There’s really significant harm. The ideas that those posters put forth onto our campus will linger for years, long after people remember where they even got the ‘mis-ideas’ and antisemitic beliefs about the people targeted will recall.”
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