In recent months, New York University has become a hotbed for hate.

In April, Students for Justice in Palestine, a student group that has long targeted Jewish students for harassment and promoted anti-Semitic tropes on the NYU campus and nationwide, was awarded the school’s 2019 President’s Service Award. Jewish students filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights over NYU’s failure to curb “extreme anti-Semitism” on its campus.

Last Thursday, NYU’s Department of Social and Cultural Analysis voted to end its relationship with the university’s own Tel Aviv campus, vowing not to cooperate with anyone participating in this study-abroad program. In doing so, they sought to stigmatize the students and faculty who are part of the program.

Over the weekend, the NYU administration put out a strong statement making clear that this was a decision made by faculty. While we applaud the administration’s statement, we believe that the university still has much work to do to provide a safe environment for Jewish and pro-Israel students.

I know that NYU can do better because it did so for us. As an NYU student, proudly and openly both Jewish and Zionist, I found a welcoming environment on campus in my time. I learned critical thinking skills and developed my worldview. I forged friendships and built professional networks that would last a lifetime. I learned and practiced values of tolerance, mutual respect, and inclusion as part of a highly diverse community.

Unfortunately, it seems that Jewish and Zionist students at NYU are not afforded this same opportunity today.

This isn't only a problem at NYU. This is the reality Jewish students face across the country. Earlier this semester, the Pitzer College Council voted to suspend its school’s study abroad relationship with the University of Haifa, mirroring the boycott of Israel by NYU’s SCA Department. Other recent incidents include anti-Semitic flyers and posters at the University of California, Santa Barbara and University of North Carolina, as well as Jewish students at Emory University waking up to eviction notices on their doors.

Anti-Israel academics such as NYU’s Professor Andrew Ross, a member of the board at the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, will argue that the vote is about “nondiscrimination and equal opportunity” — as Ross told Newsweek. We know better.

As an NYU alumnus and as a member of Alums for Campus Fairness, a movement that is galvanizing alumni to tackle the unprecedented challenges facing Jewish and Zionist students and faculty, I will not stand idly by as the campus climate on Israel continues to deteriorate at our alma mater.

Here are three things that NYU can do right now.

First, NYU has to make clear that the groups like SJP are behaving outside the bounds of acceptable discourse. We call on President Hamilton to retract the President’s Service Award to SJP and reaffirm the university’s commitment to tolerance and inclusion for all of the members within its diverse community, including Jewish and Zionist students.

Second, the university should implement new procedures and training for campus staff to promote informed discourse and avoid marginalization of student groups.

Third, NYU should discipline students and groups when they go out of bounds. When they behave violently or threaten Jewish students, they should lose their campus certification and funding.

ACF’s NYU Chapter, 500 strong, knows the power of our collective voice. Current Jewish and Zionist students look to us for support in combating bigotry at NYU. We will not let them down. We will launch petitions, communicate with the administration, and take other steps to ensure that NYU has done everything in its power to oppose the bigoted boycott of Israel and to protect its Jewish and Zionist students.

Joshua Lukeman, CAS, Class of '91 is an NYU alumni and member of Alums for Campus Fairness, which bills itself as America’s unified alumni voice on issues of anti-Semitism, demonization of Israel, and bigotry.