CALL: Bringing Light to Jewish Students With Expert Legal Support
Hillel International is, and has always been, committed to the safety and security of Jewish students. In the aftermath of the terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, and the recent mass shooting at Brown University, we wanted to share a glimpse into one aspect of that commitment. CALL, the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line, is a free, confidential resource, where students can report antisemitic incidents and access expert legal support. A partnership between Hillel International, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and the Brandeis Center, CALL is supported by attorneys at each of these organizations.
Ariel Katz, the assistant general counsel at Hillel International, works to make sure Jewish students experiencing hate and exclusion have easy access to legal guidance. This is her story.
I grew up in a large Jewish community where hanukkiot, menorahs, were even more common than Christmas trees. Being visibly Jewish was a given and part of everyday life in Skokie, Illinois.
When I left Chicago and attended college in Claremont, California, I was the only Shabbat observant student on campus, to my knowledge – a stark contrast to my childhood experiences. The Claremont Colleges did not typically attract observant students, and because of this, I was determined to be visibly and proudly Jewish.
In my professional life, I’ve maintained this desire to always be proudly and visibly Jewish. In fact, it led me to join Hillel International in January 2024 as the assistant general counsel, where I’ve been committed to helping this generation of Jewish college students embrace their identities without fear. Since November 2023, Hillel International has partnered with the ADL and the Brandeis Center to run the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line, or CALL, a free, confidential resource where students can report incidents and access expert legal support. When a student submits a report, attorneys from all three organizations review the case together and determine appropriate next steps.
Over the last two years, the CALL team has received over 600 unique incident reports from Jewish individuals, including students and faculty who have faced harassment or discrimination. Reading some of these reports was harrowing, from the student who was spit on for putting up posters on campus of the hostages taken from Israel by Hamas, or the numerous students who had their mezuzot ripped off their door frames.
Thankfully, CALL is there to empower students who have faced incidents of harassment or discrimination, helping them pursue justice, accountability, and the safety to live openly as Jews on their campuses.
I am inspired in this work by the Hanukkah story, where a small group of people, the Maccabees, fought to ensure that each Jewish person would be able to live freely. When the Maccabees reclaimed the Jewish Temple from Assyrian-Greek control, they found only enough oil to light a candle for a single day. Miraculously, it burned for eight days. Ever since, we commemorate that miracle by lighting a hanukkiah for eight nights and placing it in a window or doorway, to shine visibly outward. In fact, the requirement of the holiday is not just to light candles, but to light them publicly to publicize the miracle. And I am proud to help Jewish students year round publicize their Judaism.
Some of the most meaningful moments of my work have been hearing from students who finally received some form of closure to incidents they reported, whether through an apology, a disciplinary action, or a revised policy, all because they reached out to CALL. While legal solutions cannot always prevent an incident, they can make a profound difference. They remind students that they are not alone, that their rights matter, and that their Jewish identity deserves respect.
My hope is all Jewish students will one day feel comfortable hanging whiteboards with Hebrew words prominently displayed, talking openly about their connection to Judaism and the land and people of Israel, and inviting friends of all backgrounds over for a game of dreidel. Their friends will listen and engage with respect and empathy, and the safety and comfort of a public Jewish life will be as mainstream as it was for me in college.
Hillel International and countless Hillel campus professionals are working tirelessly to make that happen. And I’m grateful that the work I do with CALL is helping students navigate the challenges they’re facing along the way.