An Open Letter to President Garber in Support of Dr. Penslar’s Appointment as the Chair of the Antisemitism Task Force

Dear President Garber,

We are present and former undergraduates who have had the extraordinary privilege of engaging with Dr. Derek Penslar in his various roles as a professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies in History, and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies. As his students, we have come to know Dr. Penslar not only as one of the most adept and prolific academics in his field, but more importantly as a deeply empathetic individual, who encourages rigorous and open inquiry. Over the past days, we have been heartbroken to see the exceptional reputation and character of Dr. Penslar questioned in service of political ends. Not only do these attacks pervert the unparalleled assiduousness and ingenuity of Dr. Penslar’s scholarship, but they also undermine the goal of Harvard’s antisemitism task force more broadly: to understand how antisemitism is manifesting on Harvard’s campus — and what more we might do to prevent it.

These are hardly simple questions, with anything but straightforward answers. Last semester, in Dr. Penslar’s Jewish history course, “Jews in the Modern World”, we learned that throughout modernity, antisemitism has reared its head in insidious and dynamic ways. Historically, two accounts of hate are rarely felt or expressed identically or overtly. The European Enlightenment, we learned, promised a novel egalitarian approach to citizenship, but fueled state paternalism and pressure to erase collective Jewish identity. To varying degrees throughout 1930s Europe, daily discrimination against Jews became normalized and characteristic of the insidious nature of social conformity. Neither of these cases mirrored historical forms of hate, but nonetheless, dehumanized Jews and allowed more extreme views to be tolerated.

The Jewish experience is vast and diverse, and we have always suffered grave consequences when our story and people is reduced and oversimplified. The same holds for antisemitism on Harvard’s campus today. In personal and class conversations with Dr. Penslar, he has affirmed and supported our experiences as students witnessing and, for some of us, personally facing antisemitism, prejudice and hate of any nature.

Dr. Penslar will not stop at a band-aid solution or an easy target. He recognizes more acutely than any other the danger of doing so — allowing animus to fester and harm our community. We have no doubt that he will work relentlessly to fully understand and address each account of antisemitism that individuals have faced across Harvard’s campus, not just in isolation, but as part of a culture that threatens Harvard’s mission as an institution. As Professors Allison Frank Johnson and Steven Levitsky expressed in their Crimson editorial, Dr. Penslar’s prior criticisms of the Israeli government’s policies in no ways diminish his qualification, capacity, or determination to effectively create a more hospitable environment for Jewish students on campus.

The criticisms leveled against Dr. Penslar discredit his ability to carry out the nuanced work of the task force. Rather than taking away from Dr. Penslar’s capabilities, we believe that his measured and thorough analysis of Jewish history and Zionism enhances his ability to combat antisemitism on campus. Dr Penslar’s criticism of the state of Israel’s actions only serve to further bolster his credibility and his reliability to discern. That this will benefit the task force report ought to be clear to people across the political spectrum. Dr. Penslar’s embrace of civil discourse will ensure that engagement with and sincere consideration of legitimate competing views are held in balance to fulfill our duty to pursue truth.

As students who have interacted and conversed directly with Dr. Penslar, we attest to the fact that he, as a scholar and as a member of the Harvard community, grasps the importance of combating antisemitism at Harvard. We have full confidence in his commitment to a diversity of perspectives, academic freedom, and thoughtful consideration of how to most effectively combat bias and cultivate a campus culture of safety and inclusivity.

Thank you for your consideration,

Written by: Ari Kohn ’26, Talia Kahan ‘26

Endorsed by: Julia Tellides ’24, Ruby Huang ’24, Amber Velez ’24, Madison Stein ’24, Henry Santamaria ’27, Jeremy Ornstein ’24, Nicholas della Cava ’24, Walter Goldberg ’24, Garrett Nitz ’26, Serena Jampel ’25, Aidan Kohn Murphy ’26, Noah Kassis ’25, Meredith Zielonka, ’25, Vander Richie, ’26, Jonah S. Berger ’21, Jonah Sorscher ’25, Ariella Kahan ’20, Hannah Miller ’22, Nicole Kendall ’24, Shera Avi-Yonah ‘21