Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Members,

On Monday afternoon, a group of campus community members, led by the student organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), erected a sukkah on Parrish Lawn. A sukkah is a temporary structure traditionally built for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Unfortunately, JVP failed to follow College policy, which requires students to work with the Office of Student Engagement to request prior approval for such a structure. Given that the structure violated the Student Code of Conduct’s Banners, Chalkings, Postings, and Other Public Displays policy, we reached out to JVP to inform them that they needed to remove it immediately.

JVP responded by refusing to comply. Consistent with our policies and the way we addressed another structure on Parrish Lawn last semester, College staff members disassembled the sukkah this morning.

We regret that some of you are upset or offended by the removal of this sukkah and feel the College’s actions targeted members of our Jewish community. The removal of the sukkah was not intended to undermine the free expression of JVP or other members of our community. Rather, it was a response to the group’s failure to follow the stated policy in the Student Handbook.

As a reminder, Interfaith Center Interim Co-Director and Jewish Student Advisor Rabbi Michael Ramberg led the community building of a sukkah last week near the Dining and Community Commons. It is available to all members of the campus community who wish to gather and celebrate Sukkot.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Ives
Vice President for Student Affairs