Jewish students have asked for your resignation. And I agree with them. I think you should resign. Not because of your politics, but because of your lack of awareness, compassion, and mostly, because of your lack of vision. Leaders need vision, they need partners, and they need counsel.
Dear Megan,
On the night of the Senate elections, I wrote: “Holy Shit. You Won.” You wrote: “Holy Shit.”
We went out for a drink a few nights later.
I wish reporters would ask me if I know you. But instead, they just ask what I think about your video. I wish reporters would ask me if you’ve ever been to Hillel, or if we’ve ever talked about life, or boyfriends, or art, or your future. But instead, they ask about my reactions. And so when I tell people that I think you’re wonderful, and smart, and that you likely had no idea what your video would spur, they’re surprised, because how could you possibly do such a thing if you have a relationship with the campus rabbi? How could you possibly do such a thing if you’ve got university partners that care about you? How could you possibly do such a thing if you care about the entire student body at Ohio University? And if you don’t care about the entire student body of Ohio University, why are you the Student Senate President?
Your video marginalizes and isolates students. It makes Jewish parents want to bring their kids back home to the safety of the Jewish suburbs. It makes alumni want to pull their funding. It makes Jewish organizations call and demand that we do more. It makes people threaten, and when we don’t comply and do exactly what they say, they threaten some more. But I can’t do more. There’s actually not much for us to do, except gather our students and tell them that they’re safe and that they’re loved and that yes, it’s true, their student senate president isn’t qualified for the job.
Jewish students have asked for your resignation. And I agree with them. I think you should resign. Not because of your politics, but because of your lack of awareness, compassion, and mostly, because of your lack of vision. Leaders need vision, they need partners, and they need counsel. You did this on your own. Had you come to me, (yeah — the person that met you at Casa for that drink in April who enthusiastically supported your run for Senate President), I would have told you that this was a bad idea. I would have said: let’s talk to our friends in Student Affairs and the President’s Office to make sure that your ideas and commitments to social justice play out safely in our very special, warm and welcoming little town in Southeastern Ohio. That’s what I would have said. But you never asked. I wonder who you talked to. Whoever it was, they did a bad job advising.
Megan – that offer for drinks at Casa still stands. But I think you need to step down, and give somebody else the chance to lead our Ohio University student population. Somebody that won’t polarize, or divide, or marginalize, or ‘other,’ or cause hysteria, or make students feel unsafe. Yes, that’s what your video has done. You – Megan – the one person that would hate to ‘other’ another, has marginalized an entire group of students, an estimated 800 of them. Our Jewish students deserve a leader capable of serving everyone. I hope you’ll give somebody else a chance.
Rabbi Danielle Leshaw is the Executive Director at Hillel at Ohio University. She has served the Jewish student population on campus and in Athens since 2002. Follow her at @RabbiDanielle.
