Fmr Indiana governor rips 'moral confusion,' 'hypocrisy' of colleges where antisemitism has festered

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Former Indiana governor and Purdue University President Emeritus Mitch Daniels rebuked American universities for allowing antisemitism to spread on their campuses in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.

In a Washington Post column titled, "How Oct. 7 revealed the moral vacuity of U.S. higher education," Daniels slammed colleges where pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli protests have taken place since the attack. In many of these campus demonstrations, protesters have accused the Jewish people of oppressing Gazans to the point where Hamas launched the assault in retaliation.

Daniels accused these universities of "wallowing in moral confusion and hypocrisy" over the issue and expressed hope that this "disgraceful moment" helps college administrators reflect on their poor decisions over the years.

Daniels began his essay by reminiscing on how impressed he was with his Jewish neighbors growing up in Indianapolis, stating, "As much as I admired my Jewish friends’ grades and study habits, I marveled even more at the values with which many were raised."

Providing a couple of anecdotes characterizing his admiration, he continued, "On Halloween, when I was out practicing minor vandalism and raking in all the candy I could carry home, many of my Jewish classmates were out collecting donations for UNICEF. As an incensed nation grieved for three young civil rights volunteers killed in Mississippi in 1964, we were unsurprised to learn that two of the victims who had been working for equality in the South were Jewish."

The former governor also recalled how he had Jewish roommates in college in the 1960s, and mentioned how he, at that time, witnessed Israel’s neighbors vow to destroy the country and its people amid the Six-Day War.