“During this wrenching period in our lives, we need to recognize that the anguish of a classmate or colleague deserves our compassion, regardless of their views.”
Drexel University is investigating after the dorm room of a Jewish student was set on fire on Tuesday. The fire, in Race Hall on the West Philadelphia campus, started when the decorations on the student's door were "intentionally" set on fire, according to police. There were no injuries.
The Philadelpha Fire Department was called and the flames were extinguished, reports the New York Post. Drexel President John Fry sent out a message to students and faculty, encouraging them to consider first the humanity of those around them rather than their political or religious differences.
"Since I wrote to you on Sunday with my immediate reactions to the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel," Fry began, "I recognize that emotions are running high throughout our community as each of us continues to process the devastation and suffering in Israel and Gaza. Many among us hold strong opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and many among us now are worried, aggrieved, or already mourning the deaths of friends and loved ones in Israel and Gaza.
"During this wrenching period in our lives, we need to recognize that the anguish of a classmate or colleague deserves our compassion, regardless of their views."
As to the dorm room arson, he said "Unfortunately, we were made aware of a distressing situation that included destruction inside one of our residence halls. Thankfully, no one was injured. We are investigating to determine if bias, discrimination, or hate, which we do not tolerate at Drexel, was the motivation behind this incident. The investigation into this incident is ongoing, and we will update the community once it has concluded."
Drexel isn't the only Philadelphia university that has had conflict since the Hamas attack On Israel on October 7, which killed more than 1,300 people, including children, women and the elderly.
The chair of the board of Wharton, a college within the University of Pennsylvania, called "all UPenn alumni and supporters who believe we are heading in the wrong direction" to "close their checkbooks until President Elizabeth Magill and Chairman Scott Bok resign."
"While Hamas terrorists were slaughtering Israeli Jews, university administrators were figuring out how to spin it," Marc Rowan wrote in the Free Press. "Across academia, administrators issued statements on behalf of their institutions expressing a repulsive moral equivalence between victims of terror and the perpetrators of that terror."
President Donald Trump slammed American universities that are tolerating anti-Israel, pro-Hamas sentiment. "What happened in Israel was barbaric!" Trump said, who in a different post said outright that he stands with the US long-term ally Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Now American Universities are allowing or enabling the open hatred against Israel and America!" Trump said. "Instead of educating our young Americans, Deans stand idly by while subversive groups are calling for a National Day of Resistance. Not only is this antisemitic, it is also anti-American. Students have begged Deans to throw these subversive groups off campus. We banned Nazis, banned Communists, it is about time that we remove these antisemites from our schools or is the Cancel Culture only used against Conservatives?"
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