Jul 16, 2026 – 12.00amIn May 2024, as protests and encampments spread across Australian university campuses, I wrote an opinion piece calling out the antisemitism I was witnessing and arguing that universities must be places of enlightenment, never places of fear. By that afternoon, I had received hundreds of emails and messages from grandparents, parents, community and political leaders, and from very frightened students at universities across the country.That response told me that many Australians felt the same way but had not felt they had permission to say so. That silence, I believe, is part of what allowed antisemitism to take hold.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Jennifer WestacottChancellorJennifer Westacott is chancellor of Western Sydney University.Fetching latest articles
My father was an antisemite, and I refuse to stay silent
Drawing on a painful childhood memory, a university chancellor calls out Australia’s collective failure of moral clarity and leadership after October 7.
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