Last month, news that a swastika had been drawn outside the room of a Jewish student in Topliff Hall reverberated across campus, prompting Jewish students to voice concerns about antisemitism at Dartmouth.
During Family Weekend, on Sept. 26 — 10 days after the initial incident — College President Sian Leah Beilock announced that a second drawing of a swastika had been reported. However, investigations by the Hanover Police Department and the department of Safety and Security concluded on Oct. 6 that the second markings were not of a swastika.
In a series of seven interviews, Jewish students said they were disturbed by the reported swastikas, but that these recent incidents were exceptions to the norm at Dartmouth. Two Jewish students were given the pseudonyms Olivia and Lauren to speak openly about their experiences.
In regards to the swastika, Chabad at Dartmouth president Ruby Benjamin ’26 said she was “obviously shocked” by “such a blatant act of antisemitism that wasn’t even attempted to be shrouded in anything.”
“This use of one of the most collectively traumatic symbols in history for the Jewish community to target a student on our campus was extremely disgusting to see,” she said.
Lauren similarly said these incidents made her feel “upset and hurt.” As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, she said she was “scared” that “things like this were happening on Dartmouth’s campus.”
“Thinking about the things that my grandpa went through in the ’40s and to think that this is still something that we’re facing today on a college campus was really upsetting for me,” she explained.
Hillel president Hannah Brooks ’26 said she believed that the “rare” occurrence of antisemitism at Dartmouth compared to other universities was “one reason that the Jewish community on campus has been so strongly impacted by… the first swastika incident” and the “assumption” of the second.
“In my experience, as compared to experiences of friends at other schools … there is less antisemitism here,” she said. “I’m proud that that is the case at our school.”
Multiple interviewed sources said that they agreed that there is “less antisemitism” at Dartmouth than at peer institutions.
Oren Poleshuck-Kinel ’26 explained that, while antisemitism at Dartmouth is “real,” it is “not as bad as it is at other colleges.”
“I feel safe,” he said. “I feel like I can be outwardly Jewish.”
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Hillel Rabbi Seth Linfield referred to Dartmouth’s recent “B” rating — indicating a performance “better than most” — on the Anti-Defamation League’s Campus Antisemitic Report Card as an indication of the College's “genuine effort and commitment,” but also a reminder that “work is ongoing.” Dartmouth was the only Ivy League institution to receive a grade of B or higher.
Students shared mixed reactions to the administration’s treatment of the Jewish community.
Lauren said she felt that Beilock’s response “made it clear that she will stand up for Jewish students in the Jewish community on that campus” and noted that Beilock has done a “really good job supporting the Jewish community” by attending community events.
“Beilock has made herself a really strong presence in the Jewish community, and so I think a lot of people, myself included, probably the rabbis included, feel really confident in her response to [the reported swastikas],” she said.
Poleshuck-Kinel said he appreciated that the administration “took these swastikas seriously.”
“When we’re dealing with something as scary and as threatening as a swastika, I feel thankful that the administration acted under an abundance of caution,” he explained.
Olivia, however, said she believed Beilock’s response to the second incident was “a little bit performative and inconsiderate” because it made Jewish students “anxious, terrified and scared for essentially no reason.”
“I think that Beilock’s quickness to put out a statement before checking the facts or looking for proof shows that she just cares way more about her own image and trying to appear tough against bigotry than actually protecting Jewish students,” Olivia added.
Furthermore, she said she was “disheartened” that Beilock “used” the incident “as some kind of political tool.”
“I think that the quickness to respond without knowing if it was a swastika or not — which ended up not being a swastika — was just so irresponsible, especially during the High Holidays,” she explained.
Lauren wrote in a follow-up statement after the second reported marking was deemed not to be a swastika that she was “happy to hear” the news, but “there is a reason this student thought that it was one.”
“I hope that this doesn’t turn into a ‘boy-who-cried-wolf scenario’ because antisemitism is very alive and real right now — even if it wasn’t present in this exact instance — and it’s something that everyone needs to take seriously,” she wrote.
Benjamin and Brooks said in independent interviews that they were concerned the focus on the second marking not being a swastika seems to have distracted from the reality of the first.
The “lack of ground-up support” was “disheartening” and “shows that people have put antisemitism aside,” Benjamin said.
“I think people have used the fact the second one was not a swastika to minimize the impact of the first incident, which we all saw a picture of” in The Dartmouth, she explained.
Speaking on the impact of the first incident, Lauren said she was “really disappointed” by “the lack of support from other campus groups.”
“When any group on campus is receiving such obvious hate and targeting … campus groups should be mobilizing to support them and condemn this,” she said.
Similarly, in an op-ed in The Dartmouth, Darci Rochkind ’28 criticized “the larger community’s silence” after each of the swastikas was discovered and reported.
“The fact that the second symbol may have been a false alarm does not diminish the fact that the first one was real and scary,” she wrote. “We are not ‘needlessly’ alert.”
Brooks said she thought the lack of “peer-to-peer support for Jewish students” was “even more disheartening.” She added that “students could do a better job of supporting other students.”
“Very few individual students or student organizations that were not connected to Jewish life directly in some way either spoke out against the incidents or spoke up to individual Jewish peers in support, in reaching out to make sure that everyone was all right,” she said.
For example, a public Hillel event on Oct. 6 to show “solidarity against antisemitism,” was only attended by two “students who were not Jewish,” even though it was broadcast on the campus-wide email list, Brooks said.
In his statement to The Dartmouth, Linfield wrote that “continued vigilance in addressing both overt acts of hatred and the subtle forms of exclusion” are “essential to maintaining an inclusive learning environment.”
“If we meet this moment with honesty and with hope, then the story we tell will be about how Dartmouth chose to go beyond responding to antisemitism to cultivate a campus where Jewish students flourish because their identity is embraced as part of the fabric of this community,” he wrote.
In an interview, senior vice president for community and campus life Jennifer Rosales said that resources are available for students through “counseling centers, our pastoral services … and the dean of undergraduate studies” and “continue to exist for all students, all the time.”
Rosales encouraged students to “rely on one another.”
“I hope that everyone can really think about their neighbor, their peers and know that this community needs one another to thrive,” Rosales said.
