A Yom Kippur event was disrupted when a driver hurled antisemitic remarks at Jewish students and faculty members several weeks ago. Antisemitism is nothing new to college campuses – but always startling. This event comes after another incident that took place one year prior when two Jewish students were assaulted outside of the Pi Kappa Phi house. While the students were not critically injured, the situation left many unsettled.

“I was talking to my parents and he (father) told me about it . . . it made me nervous,” said IU sophomore Maya Toffler.

The incident at Pi Kappa Phi rocked the Jewish community at Indiana University. This situation was all too familiar for Rabbi Sue Silberberg, Executive Director of the Hillel Center.

“When I was a student . . . I had a senior who came up to me. She took me into her room and essentially tried to convert me,” said Rabbi Silberberg.

Rabbi Silberberg, who has worked for the Hillel Center for over 30 years, remembers her life as a Jewish faculty member. It was not easy, Silberberg said. “Jewish students are constantly questioning if the place they are at is safe and protected.” IU as well as Bloomington, IN has a long history with antisemitism. Like many college towns, extremist rhetoric can be found in schools all across the country.

“In America I think it had gone under the surface for awhile. And I do think in these past four years under the administration that we’ve had, its given permission for all of that to just come out to the surface,” said Silberberg.

But, Rabbi Silberberg is not the only person who feels this way about the Trump administration. Many Americans believe as though the current administration has instilled a newfound confidence within hate groups as hate crimes nearly surged 20% under the Trump administration, according to the FBI.

“It has been here it has always been here . . . it is such an immoral belief that any group should be hated based on their race, ethnicity, gender or religion,” said IU freshman Kate Feinberg. Feinberg is just one of many Jewish students at IU who constantly find themselves in a worried state when antisemitic attacks happen.

Antisemitism did not resurface, it has always been here, said Feinberg. “In these recent years, under our Presidency it has been given a larger voice.”