Weird antisemitism situation at work/school.

I’m honestly just writing because I need support, and I don’t think I’m going to find this at my university.

I’m teaching a class at my university. It turns out one of my students was very involved in some anti-Israel action on campus last year. I’ve never said I’m Jewish to my students, but I suppose wearing Star of David jewelry was enough?

They’ve filed a report of concern that is filled with lies, saying I said things that I never said, calling me racist, including a part where they say that I claim I’m not white because I’m Jewish (even though I’ve never said this to my students). There’s a lot of antisemitism in their complaint. I’ll also add this student has disrupted class and broken a lot of our class rules during discussions.

I think this student is taking their preconceived misperceptions about Jews and projecting them onto me. I don’t imagine they know many Jews personally, and I’m probably the only Jew they’ve had to be in the same room with and speak to for extended periods of time over the last year. I think they want me to be everything they say in their complaint to back up what they already believe about all Jews, even though it’s neither true of all Jews nor is it true of me.

It’s especially sad because I LOVE being an educator. I value safe learning spaces, and that is an aspect of this job that I don’t take lightly. I am facilitating a class here students are asked to have conversations that can be difficult and nuanced, but are extremely important to have in our field of work. The reason we have the class rules is to facilitate these conversations running smoothly.

I truly don’t know how much of this is this student holding a prejudice and projecting their antisemitism onto me, trying to prove their antisemitic beliefs to be correct and taking them out on me. But even if that’s true, I don’t think it’s done consciously. I think this student, as much misinformation as they are operating under, truly believes they’re being taught by a horrible person. I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a class being graded by the person they described in their complaint either! But as much as I have tried to lay a foundation to make my classroom safe and open where everyone, even people like this student, can share their opinions and feel valued, this student is not feeling supported by me or in my class.

I don’t know if there’s a single thing I could have done up to this point to change that. Or if this student is truly projecting their prejudices onto me. But regardless of where the root is, one of my students is hurting. Even if that pain stems from their own prejudice and misinformation, their pain is real.

And how I respond to this, not just as a Jew but as an educator, has the potential to impact this students’ pain and help alleviate it or make it abundantly worse. And while I never want any of my students to be hurt, I’m going to have to balance defending myself and making it absolutely apparent that this student has lied about me, my main goal has to be to help this student feel reassured that their educator is not this person they believe them to be. And if this perception is rooted in antisemitism that existed long before they ever stepped in my classroom, then I’ll admit I have no idea how to approach this in a way that preserves my own dignity and denies these lies while also seeking to support a student who’s feeling unwelcome.

I don’t know if any of this makes sense, but I appreciate the space to speak about it.