Student Senate Votes To Defund Hillel

A campus funding fight turned into a much bigger test of who actually gets to define Jewish student life at a university. On May 1, The New School’s University Student Senate voted to put Hillel “not in good standing,” pause its funding, and stop collaboration with it. Then the university stepped in and said the senate had overreached — Hillel would stay recognized and funded. ### What did the student senate actually do? The senate’s action targeted Hillel at The New School, the campus chapter tied to the broader Hillel network. Student leaders said the group should lose funding and campus standing because it allegedly had direct ties to violations of international law through Israel-related programming. The move was not just symbolic — it was meant to cut off student-government support and formal collaboration. ### Why was Hillel singled out? The senate’s case rested on a report the student body described as 35-plus pages, while other coverage called it 38 pages. The report argued that Hillel-backed programs — including Birthright travel and volunteer opportunities on Israeli military bases through the Onward Students program — linked the campus group to Israeli military units and settlement activity. That was the core claim behind the vote. ### Why did the university reject it so fast? Because the administration says the senate does not control official recognition or funding eligibility for registered student organizations. The New School told students that those powers belong to the university, not the senate, and said Hillel remained in good standing. It also called the senate’s action “misguided” and said it was taking immediate steps to make sure the body stayed within its actual authority. ### So was Hillel actually defunded? Basically, no. The senate voted for that outcome, but the administration said the vote had no binding authority. That distinction matters here. The news is not that Hillel lost recognition in practice. The news is that a student governing body tried to do it anyway, and the university publicly overruled it almost immediately. ### Why did this blow up beyond one campus? Turns out this may be the first known case of a U.S. student government voting to cut ties with a Hillel chapter. That gave the episode national weight fast. Hillel is not some niche club — it is one of the main institutions for Jewish campus life in the United States, with hundreds of chapters. So a vote against Hillel reads, to many people, as bigger than a normal student-organization dispute. ### How did each side frame it? Hillel at The New School called the vote “deeply painful and antisemitic” and said it tried to isolate Jewish students from a community they have every right to join. Student senate leaders framed the administration’s override as anti-democratic and said the. ### Why is campus governance the real hinge here? Because this fight is partly about Israel and Gaza, but also about jurisdiction. Student governments often control some funding streams, but universities usually control recognition, compliance, and legal status. The catch is that once a senate quickly. ### What’s the bottom line? Hillel is still recognized at The New School. But the attempted defunding is now a national example of how campus battles over Israel are spilling into questions about Jewish belonging, student-government power, and where activism ends and exclusion begins.