Governor’s Antisemitism Report Followed by Vandalism at City College

Last week, graffiti with potentially antisemitic tones was discovered in Shepard Hall, just days after Governor Kathy Hochul’s office released the results of an independent investigation into the incidence of antisemitism across CUNY campuses.

In a secluded room on the fourth floor of Shepard Hall — the Film BFA student lounge — someone scrawled “free palestine fuck israel” across the wall already adorned with “Black Lives Matter,” an LGBT+ rainbow flag, and pro-immigrant posters. According to witnesses with knowledge of students with access to this lounge and a representative from the CCNY office of public safety, the graffiti did not appear to be targeting a specific person or group.

David Ranghelli, the coordinator of the undergraduate Film BFA program, reported the graffiti to the City College Office of Public Safety on September 25 after a concerned student brought it to his attention. Officers documented it and members of the Office of Facilities Management removed it within 24 hours, according to Ranghelli.

He describes anti-Zionism as “an “intellectual, moral position” but also believes it can devolve into antisemitism when individuals express their dissent in negative ways. “[Anti-Zionism can be] harmful to the whole community,” Ranghelli said.

This graffiti tracks an era of increased anti-Israel and/or antisemitic sentiment across CUNY campuses after Hamas’ October 7th attack against Israeli citizens, according to the governor’s report. In late October 2023, Hochul’s office ordered an independent investigation into CUNY’s anti-discrimination policies, with a specific focus on their reporting, monitoring, and investigation of discriminatory incidents. Investigators found that CUNY campuses are ill equipped to deal with increasing incidents of antisemitism, like the one last week, across their campuses because their policies and procedures are “outdated and potential sources of confusion.”

A faculty member from CCNY’s Jewish Studies department — who declined to go on-record — feels relatively safe on City College’s campus. While she credited the report’s importance in an era of increased antisemitism, it did not accurately capture the unique conditions on each CUNY campus. She thought that CCNY Public Safety responded to incidents of discrimination rather quickly and effectively.

Others disagree. Abby Kane, an art history undergraduate student at City College, believes that, as the governor’s report found, the university needs to do more to better address antisemitic threats of violence against Jewish communities. “People don’t care about Jewish people or Israel unless there’s an active war,” said Kane, who is Jewish. “There are neo Nazis in our government and in our media. Focus on that.”

Offensive graffiti painted over in the Film BFA student lounge — Shepard Hall, City College of New York on Thursday, September 26th. Photo by Susannah Pittman.