Jewish students returning to campus at Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier) after the holidays discovered that mezuzahs hung on their residence doors had been smashed and torn down over the High Holy Days.
The incident drew swift condemnation from community organizations, with Hillel Ontario and StandWithUs Canada issuing a joint statement on social media on Monday declaring that they "are horrified that, over the holiday weekend, Jewish students at Wilfred Laurier University were targeted with antisemitic hatred in the place they call home on campus."
The joint statement emphasized that "this cannot be the welcome Jewish students receive when they come to university," adding that "students have a right to feel safe and secure in their residences and to express their Jewish identity openly and proudly without fear of being targeted."
The organizations noted that the timing amplified the gravity of the incident, stating that "this occurred over Rosh Hashanah, making it all the more disturbing," and that "at a time when Jewish students should have been marking the beginning of a new year with pride, renewal, and hope, they were targeted by despicable hate."
Addressing the institutional response, the groups stressed that "there can be no tolerance for antisemitism on campus," and noted that "Hillel has been in touch with university leadership to ensure this matter is dealt with decisively."
Jewish students 'will not be intimidated into hiding who they are'
The organizations asserted that "Jewish students are not going anywhere," and that "they will not be intimidated into hiding who they are or removing the symbols of their Jewish identity" because "they are proud, they belong at Laurier, and they deserve to be safe being openly Jewish on campus."
In a statement to the Jerusalem Post, Jay Solomon, CEO of Hillel Ontario, said, “We condemn this act of antisemitism in the strongest possible terms. It is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader pattern of escalating hostility toward Jewish students that we have seen across campuses in Ontario and Canada. We have been in touch with university leadership and expressed our alarm at this incident, which follows similar violations on other campuses since October 7. The administration has assured us the matter is under investigation.”
“This cannot continue. All institutions of higher learning have an obligation to keep Jews safe, and we urge all schools to enforce their policies and hold perpetrators to account swiftly and transparently,” Solomon said.
In a statement to the Post, Laurier said the university “is aware of an incident of vandalism that involved widespread damage along various residence hallways. We are treating this matter very seriously, and our Special Constable Service is leading the investigation.”
The university added, “The students have connected with university residence staff, and appropriate supports are in place and available to them. We take the safety of our students very seriously. We strongly condemn acts of antisemitism and have zero tolerance for hate speech, racism, threats, and harassment.”
The incident comes amidst a surge in hate incidents targeting the Jewish community throughout Canada in recent months, including on university campuses, mirroring findings from a federal report released in August by the Department of Canadian Heritage and produced by the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute.
Known as the Campus Antisemitism and Student Experience (CASE) report, the study documented that over 95 percent of surveyed Jewish students experienced or witnessed antisemitism on post-secondary campuses nationwide.