Brandeis University president Ron Liebowitz announced this week that he and the administration had extended the deadline for transfer applications in order to accommodate Jewish students who may wish to leave their current college or university to enroll at Brandeis as anti-Israel encampments spring up across the country.

“I am sure many of you have seen or read about the numerous protests on college and university campuses, where Jewish students are being targeted and attacked physically and verbally, preventing them from pursuing their studies and activities outside of class, just because they are Jewish or support Israel,” Liebowitz wrote. “For many, their safety has been compromised, and this is unacceptable.”

He noted Brandeis’s history as a haven for Jews, writing that, “as a university founded in 1948 by the American Jewish community to counter antisemitism and quotas on Jewish enrollment in higher education, Brandeis has been committed to protecting the safety of all its students, and, in the current atmosphere, we are proud of the supports we have in place to allow Jewish students to thrive.”

Liebowitz continued on to say that Jews and non-Jews alike would be able to find an educational experience free from the discriminatory conduct seen on other campuses at Brandeis.

“Students elsewhere should know we welcome all — Jews and students from every background — who seek an excellent undergraduate education and an environment striving to be free of harassment and Jew-hatred to apply.”

Brandeis, which has about 1,300 Jewish students comprising 35 percent of its undergraduate population, revoked official recognition from the campus Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter over the organization’s support for Hamas, the destruction of Israel, and the elimination of a Jewish presence in the country.

“It is critical that all students, and all of their diverse experiences and viewpoints, be allowed to engage in constructive dialogue and live together as a community, in an environment that is free of intimidation and harassment,” Liebowitz wrote in a November message announcing the decision to cease its recognition of the SJP chapter. “A commitment to openness is one of Brandeis’ founding values, but that openness is challenged when speech is used to intimidate and silence others.”