U. of California Disputes Claims on Anti-Semitism

The University of California is disputing the claims of Jewish organizations and leaders that there is a notable increase in anti-Semitism on the system's campuses, the Los Angeles Times reported. A recent letter to the university said that an increasing number of incidents requires a specific focus on preventing anti-Semitism. University officials have acknowledged (and condemned) a number of incidents, but disagree about the extent of the problem. In a response released Tuesday, Mark Yudof, the president, said he was disturbed by the incidents and would "do everything in my power to protect Jewish and all other students from threats or actions of intolerance." But he also said that the letter overstated the problem and the degree of concern of many Jewish students, and called the letter sent to the university "a dishearteningly ill-informed rush to judgment against our ongoing responses to troubling incidents that have taken place on some of our campuses."