The following piece on an incident at the University of Nevada-Reno campus is part of our report on “An Epidemic of Jew Hatred on Campus: the Top Ten Neo-Nazi Incidents.” This report chronicles horrifying instances of anti-Semitism on prestigious American campuses including UCLA, Columbia University, the University of Nevada-Reno, and Tufts University, among others. The report’s introduction stresses the role that the terrorist-funded BDS movement plays in promoting anti-Semitism on campus and draws parallels between BDS and the rhetoric and methods employed by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. In a stealth campaign conducted on Monday, May 6, 1000 copies of a printed newspaper containing this report were distributed to public locations on the University of Nevada-Reno campus. The newspapers also contained a poster highlighting the links between the BDS movement and Adolf Hitler’s “final solution.”
University of Nevada-Reno: Campus Dorm Defaced with Swastika, Plea to “Kill all Jews”
A message threatening the lives of Jews was found on the wall of a campus residence hall at the University of Nevada-Reno in March, 2019. The highly disturbing message contained a swastika and the threats “Kill all Jews” and “Watch Out Communist Bombing on March 6, 2019, and March 7, 2019.”
Former student Matthew Levin who lived in the University residence hall called the threat “Unacceptable.”
“This was found at Juniper Hall on the campus I called home (and in a way still call home) for 5 years,” he explained. “Never in my life did I think that this was going to happen on our campus that has always been so supportive of all students. The students, faculty, alumni, and community deserve better than this. The Wolf Pack should not and will not stand for this.”
An email signed by several university administrators promised an investigation and further action: “This symbol and the threatening remarks that accompanied it are unacceptable and wrong,” it stated. “We strongly condemn any symbols and actions that represent hate, intimidation or terror. We stand with members of our Jewish community and all people who find such hateful symbols and abhorrent threats to be offensive, and we will work with a number of groups to ensure that our campus remains safe and welcoming.”
The death threat scrawled on Juniper Hall was not the first incidence of Jew hatred expressed in a campus residence. Earlier that same academic year, on October 27, 2018, the very same date on which a gunman massacred individuals at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh—a swastika was found carved into the dorm room door of two Jewish roommates. The Jewish students had recently hung a mezuzah (a small box containing a Jewish prayer) on their door frame.
Still more swastikas were found painted on a creative expression wall within the campus arts building in October 2017. Despite rhetoric promising to stamp out anti-Semitism on campus, administrators at UNR clearly have an uphill battle ahead.
Images of the papers on campus:
Newspapers distributed on the campus of the University of Nevada-Reno:
Poster included in the newspaper:
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