May 19, 2024

Dear Joe, Stacey, and Trustees:

Collectively, we are a group of Ethical Culture Fieldston School (“ECFS”) families and alumni. Most
of us are Jewish, but some of us are not. All of us chose to join the ECFS community because we
expected it to deliver the promise inherent in its name—an ethical culture. Indeed, many of us have
fought for social justice on behalf of the non-Jewish minorities at this school with the post-Holocaust
vow, “Never Again,” in our hearts. We write now to tell you that, during this Jewish American History
and Mental Health Awareness Month, we are not okay.

In a 1921 address to the American Ethical Union, Felix Adler noted that the term “anti-Semitic”
prevailed in place of “anti-Jewish” because it provided a “quasi-scientific legitimation” for
discrimination against Jewish people. “The implication of the name anti-Semitism is that the
descendants of the ancient Hebrews, the Jews, have remained … interlopers in Western countries” that
should be excluded from American society. At the time of Adler’s address, Jews were being forced to
change their surnames so that they could get jobs, barred from Ivy League universities, excluded from
social clubs, and often subjected to biased laws and policies. At the time we write this letter, ECFS
Jews have changed our surnames in our online profiles, tucked in our Star of David necklaces, and
hired extra security for our synagogues. For months, your administration has assured us repeatedly
that (1) support for us, (2) effective antisemitism education for the whole community and (3) a plan
for dialogue and education about the Middle East and Israeli/Palestinian conflict were each
forthcoming. We are still waiting.

Following the brutal raping, burning, torturing, kidnapping and murdering of so many
people—predominantly Jewish Israelis—on October 7th, we longed for an unqualified expression of
solidarity from the ECFS administration. Instead, we were met with a painful irony that would have
shocked Adler: today, we face the accusation of being too Western. Once Semitic interlopers, we have
now been recast as ECFS’s worst evil-doers—namely, white colonizers and oppressors (to say nothing
of the fact that the majority of Jews in Israel are neither white nor white-passing). We will not rehash
the very public and painful history of antisemitism at this school that predates your administration.
But the micro- and macro-aggressions faced by our community since October 7th clearly prove that the
roots of that hate have not been removed.

You have seen how corrosive this hatred has been for the Jews of New York, where Jewish college
students are physically harassed on their way to classes, where Jewish-owned businesses have been
vandalized, and where the same neighborhood where our school is located was locked down for days
because Jewish homes and synagogues were being stalked. We have pleaded with you to shield our
community from this vitriol, to stem the tide before this senseless evil reached our campus.

However, the past seven months have shown us that many faculty and students in the ECFS
community do not comprehend the true definition of Zionism, and consequently deny this
fundamental pillar of the Jewish people. Many Jews in America, Israel, and all over the world criticize
Israeli policies and advocate for the Palestinian people—a position that is totally consistent with
Zionist beliefs. At the same time, we believe in our right to self-determination in the homeland to
which our ancient texts refer (and contemplate our returning), where we have always maintained a
presence following our ethnic cleansing by the Romans, and where our fossils have been discovered.
We have been kicked out of, or murdered in, virtually every country where we have ever settled, and
thus Israel is not just our ancestral homeland but also feels like our only safe haven against complete
annihilation. We have attempted to explain to the school for months now—in emails, letters, phone
calls and in-person meetings—that Zionism and Judaism are inextricably linked. This point is even
more profound for the ECFS Jewish community, with its many specific and personal ties to Israel.
Telling us otherwise denies our lived experience—a concept that this school has worked so hard to
foster and protect for other identity groups. For months we have exercised restraint and patience as
you attempt to find “the right words.”

These words were not so hard for the United States House of Representatives to find. Last month,
they passed H.R. 6090, a bipartisan resolution condemning the chant “From the river to the sea,
Palestine will be free” as antisemitic. The resolution decried the slogan as an “antisemitic call to arms
with the goal of the eradication of the State of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea.” It recognized that the phrase “seeks to deny Jewish people the right to
self-determination and calls for the removal of the Jewish people from their ancestral homeland,” serves
as a “rallying cry” that promotes violence against both the State of Israel and Diaspora Jewry, and does
“a disservice to Israelis, Palestinians and all those in the region who seek peace.”

In contrast, when this slogan appeared at our students’ feet and on their social media feeds, Joe and
Stacey’s May 16th letter failed to identify it as antisemitism, much less acknowledge the language as the
call to violence against Jews that it was. The Upper School Student and Family Handbook prohibits
hateful speech “even if the student does not mean to cause harm.” And yet, rather than expressing
unwavering support for the group directly targeted by the sign, Joe and Stacey vaguely reiterated their
“dedication to the dignity of all members of the community and the diversity of perspectives and
backgrounds.” There is no diversity of perspectives in response to this slogan. There are two
perspectives: do you agree that the ethnic cleansing of all Israeli Jews is a worthy goal, or not? Only one
of these perspectives has a place in a culture that purports to be ethical and that values “dignity for all
members of the community.” The letter’s failure to offer clear, decisive feedback in that moment
reflects an overwhelmed and indecisive administration that failed its Jewish constituents.

Moreover, we tried to help you avoid this painful error. When the “River to the sea” defacement
occurred, many of us wrote to you, imploring you not to resort to generalities and equivocating jargon
and noting that you had only one chance to make your first response an impactful one. Joe and
Stacey’s second response, dated May 17th, contains the clarity that we had hoped for the day before.
Why didn’t the use of a genocidal slogan warrant swift condemnation in your first response? There
appears to be an extreme discomfort at this institution around offering unequivocal support for your
Jewish community without tying it to all forms of hate. That simply cannot continue.

If a school-led, context-centered investigation finds “retaliatory threats,” we categorically condemn

them. At the same time, your administration has placed an undue burden upon us by asking us to
withstand unchecked antisemitic actions without timely and fully addressing them. The current
tension on campus is, unfortunately, a situation of your own making, the byproduct of your failure to
act sooner in calling out antisemitism, educate all students, take decisive action in accordance with
school policies, and seize upon hurtful displays of bias—both proactive and retaliatory—as teachable
moments for the individuals involved. Providing a “safe, nurturing environment” for our children
means identifying and condemning bigotry when it happens, not leaving minor students in a siloed,
hostile environment to wonder how they will protect themselves.

Felix Adler embodied the moral clarity we demand. He said:

To Jew and [non-Jew] I speak, and say: Let us join together in the endeavor to create the
most wonderful thing to which the human mind can give birth, the holy vision—holier
than any that the past has known—that shall guide mankind through its sorrows and its
labors towards the better time to come. This is the sense and purpose of our Ethical
Movement. And in this, among ourselves and those whom we can reach, will be finally
transcended the thing that is called anti-Semitism.

We remain committed to this Ethical Movement. To this end, we have provided a list of demands
upon ECFS. It is imperative that the school meet these expectations with courage and clarity to finally
transcend antisemitism. We will wait no longer.
The signatories to the above letter request ECFS commit to the following changes by Tuesday,
May 28, 2024:

1. To accomplish the work described in the below list, ECFS will assemble a task force composed
of parents, faculty, administration and students (“the Task Force”) by June 1, 2024.

2. ECFS will adopt a definition of antisemitism that incorporates the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance definition
(https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definitions-charters/working-d
efinition-antisemitism) and is approved by the Task Force by the end of this 2023-2024
academic year. This definition should be clearly stated in the appropriate places on the school’s
website, its handbooks, and its codes of conduct.

3. ECFS will clarify for all of its community members that the following statements and their
derivations constitute “hateful speech” described on page 47 of the Upper School 2023-2024
Student and Family Handbook: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “Globalize
the intifada,” and “Intifada revolution, there is only one solution” “Zionists Out” by the end of
this 2023-2024 academic year.

4. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, ECFS will commit to teaching all students how to
properly evaluate information presented online, and especially in social media, for factual
accuracy. Included in this education will be lessons on how to assess sources for reliability and
how to identify and interpret propaganda.

5. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, ECFS will offer a mandatory annual civic discourse
program to be approved by the Task Force and to be integrated into the school curriculum at
the Middle and Upper school divisions. This program will focus on teaching students the
fundamental principles and practices of dialogue and communication, especially in the context
of difficult conversations. ECFS will also offer mandatory training for all faculty on this topic,
with the purpose of instilling an environment of open inquiry and vigorous, inclusive
discourse.

6. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, ECFS will commit to ensuring that every Upper School
student is required to engage in weekly discussions regarding current events with a teacher who
has received the training described in Number 5 above.

7. Before the start of the 2024-2025 school year, ECFS will appoint a Jewish history expert (“the
Expert”), to be approved and monitored by the Task Force, to oversee the process of
incorporating an understanding of Judaism, diversity in the Jewish community, antisemitism
(including Holocaust education in the Middle and Upper School divisions), the Jewish
Diaspora and Jewish history into the mandatory curriculum of all school divisions. For
example, starting in the 2024-2025 school year, 9th grade World History will include the
history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and 10th grade US History will include Jewish
 American history. The incorporation of this content into these courses will be overseen by the
Expert. Additionally, the problematic nature of how Jewish culture and history is currently
taught at the school (including the many instances where it is not taught at all) will be
examined and changed with the oversight of the Taskforce and the Expert.

8. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, the Adler requirement will include at least four Jewish
studies classes including “History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict in the 20th and 21st
Century,” “Antisemitism Throughout History,” “Jewish Literature” (existing), and “The
Holocaust” (existing). In addition, at least one Jewish author and experience will be integrated
into the following English classes: “World Literature,” “Women and Literature,” “Social and
Political Issues in Literature,” “Literature of War,” “Latin American Literature,”
“Contemporary Literature,” and “Coming of Age Literature.” Curriculum be developed in
consultation with the Expert and approved by the Task Force.

9. The Task Force will be consulted on the search for the new Executive Director of Community
and Social Impact, BSI lead, and all future BSI searches and hires.

10. ECFS will immediately adopt and implement a policy banning antisemitic speech and symbols
from the Commencement Ceremony and all activities related to graduation that take place on
campus. Noncompliance with this policy will result in the immediate removal of the offender
from the premises.

Signatories as of 5:30pm, May 22, 2024*

Current Students: 226, of which 216 are Middle or Upper School Students

Faculty and Staff: 13

Alumni: 172

Parents of Current Students: 359

Parents of Alumni: 87

TOTAL: 857

*All signatories are listed as submitted. To avoid double-counting, signatories with multiple designations
are listed once in the following order:
- Current Students
- Faculty and Staff (including Faculty and Staff who are also Alumni and/or ECFS Parents)
- Alumni (including Alumni who are also ECFS Parents)
- Parents of Current Students (including those who are also Parents of Alumni)
- Parents of Alumni