Fighting Anti-Semitism on Campus With an App

By JENNIFER SZULMAN

College students now hold the power to report and record anti-Semitic incidents in the palms of their hands.

“CombatHateU” is a new, free application for mobile devices that will allow college students a chance to anonymously document cases of anti-Semitism that occur in classrooms and on campus.

Developed by the “natural partnership” of The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization, and Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, the app comes at a critical time where anti-Israel demonstrations and protests are widespread.

“This empowers students to not only just deal with and sit through hate speech but to report it anonymously,” said Executive Director of Alpha Epsilon Pi, Andrew Borans, to a group of reporters, fraternity leaders and Simon Wiesenthal Center members at a press conference at the Museum of Tolerance on Tuesday. “We all know the amount of professors on campus and speeches delivered that are truly anti-Zionist and anti-Israel that become emboldened to anti-Semitic rhetoric. This has to stop. Our 10,000 students across the globe will now have on their phone another voice to be able to record and report hate speech that has no place on a college campus.”

The creation and use of the app holds special significance to the brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi since on Yom Kippur weekend their fraternity house at Emory University was vandalized with spray-painted swastikas. The incident was under investigation by campus police.

Students who are victims or witnesses of the crimes can use the app to anonymously describe what they see and report to the center which, in turn, can follow up with campus authorities.

“This app will allow anyone who cares about freedom of speech and quality of academic and intellectual discourse on campuses to participate and be able to make it a safer and secure place for people to learn and grow intellectually and socially,” said Mark Weitzman, Director of Governmental Affairs at the center.

“CombatHateU” is available free of charge on the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store.