Rice University’s undergraduate LGBT organization recently terminated its relationship with Houston Hillel, the campus’ pluralistic Jewish organization. The reason wasn’t LGBT-specific, but rather, Israel .

Rice PRIDE accused Hillel International, not Houston Hillel, which is an autonomous 501(c)3, of using partnership standards “to cut ties and spark conflicts with any organization that seeks to engage in spaces that validate Palestinian and Arab experiences.” Except, “Hillel supports a wide range of programming about Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and its chapters frequently host Palestinian scholars, authors, and activists,” Miriam Elman, executive director of the Academic Engagement Network , shared. The real issue is that Hillel International opposes partnerships with groups that “ delegitimize , demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel.”

Notably, Rice PRIDE engaged Rice Students for Justice in Palestine but not Houston Hillel's staff or students while developing its new inclusion policy. And the result is selective exclusion.

Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center , commented, “The whole episode reeks of disparate treatment and double standards, and its equation of Zionism with discrimination and as incompatible with inclusion is an antisemitic distortion of a fundamental Jewish belief. Bottom line is they are treating a mainstream Jewish institution differently than anyone else.”

This bias has drawn a muted response from undergraduates. But where do administrators stand?

The university spokesman emailed, “At Rice, our student organizations and campus partners play a key role in the vibrancy and diversity of our campus. We value each and every one of them and their important missions and contributions to the Rice community. We are aware of a development involving Rice PRIDE, a student-led organization, and Houston Hillel, a longtime campus partner, and are hopeful a resolution can be found.”

While resolution is sought, context is critical. Rice PRIDE isn’t simply stigmatizing individual students. Their action marginalizes an entire institution that connects Jewish students to their religious and cultural heritage.

“This action by Rice PRIDE is only a symptom of the virulent antisemitism that prevails under so-called inclusion efforts that are guided by Critical Social Justice ideology,” Tabia Lee, lifelong educator and co-founder of Free Black Thought explained. “Jewish students are only included and welcomed on college campuses when they are willing to adopt anti-Zionist identities .... No student should have to sacrifice or hide any part of their identity to be included in campus life.”

Yet, Jewish students increasingly face that bind. The AMCHA Initiative , which tracks campus antisemitism, documented threats doubling “at 60% of schools most popular with Jewish students.” Threats included “pit[ting] Zionism against progressive values . . . and purg[ing] Zionism and Zionists from campus life,” even as 82% of American Jews consider Israel integral to their Jewish identity.

Israel-related hostility toward Hillels is also becoming a pattern. In 2017, “[San Francisco] Hillel was excluded from an on-campus ‘Know Your Rights’ fair” over Israel support.

Elman recalled a member of Students for Justice in Palestine at Stony Brook University telling the campus newspaper her organization wanted Zionism and Hillel off that campus in 2018. And last year, the Muslim Student Association at American University canceled a Passover-Ramadan event because Hillel supported Israel even after Palestinian rioting at the Al-Aqsa mosque prompted an Israeli police raid.

When Jews are ostracized “university administrators are quick to let it slide and chalk it up to disagreement on Israeli politics, but nothing could be further from the truth; this is an attempt to exclude people,” observed Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, director of the AMCHA Initiative. “And it will continue until universities adopt a single standard of behavior for all students.”

Elman additionally recommended Rice immediately implement “mandatory trainings for all registered student clubs and organizations” on “Jewish identity, the Jewish experience, and antisemitism.”

Actions matter. It’s time for Rice’s leaders to model true inclusion.

Melissa Langsam Braunstein ( @slowhoneybee ) is an independent writer in metropolitan Washington.