When ‘Dare to Dream’ Isn’t Enough

The irony behind NYU Welcome’s 2025 slogan “Dare to Dream” is difficult to ignore. Students dream about attending their top university for years prior to their freshman year. They dream about going to classes, meeting new friends, and having the best four years of their life. Certainly, that dream does not include acts of hate and antisemitism. However, for Jewish freshmen living in Weinstein dorm, also a home to the campus’s only kosher dining hall, that dream has quickly turned sour.

In the first week of the semester, a mezuzah was taken from the doorpost of a student’s dorm room. A mezuzah distinguishes a Jewish home as a visible sign that Jewish identity exists within the home. Yesterday, another student, another Jewish freshman also living in Weinstein, found his door vandalized with antisemitic graffiti. In a memorandum sent out to the NYU community this morning, President Linda Mills expresses that “NYU has a zero-tolerance policy towards antisemitism and other forms of hatred.”

While the statement is appreciated, words alone are not enough to achieve real change. For Jewish students, these incidents are not just a prank or isolated—it is a striking reminder that their sense of safety and belonging can quickly become shattered. For many freshmen, this is their first time living away from home, and their dorms are supposed to be a place of community and comfort. Instead, Jewish students are being made to feel singled out before they’ve even had the chance to settle in.

NYU prides itself on diversity and inclusion, however, such incidents demonstrate how fragile that promise can feel when members of a minority group are targeted. The administration’s commitment to “zero tolerance” must translate into action. Though, at the same time, responsibility cannot solely rest with the administration. Students play just as critical of a role in shaping campus culture. Silence in the face of antisemitism, or any hate for that matter, only allows it to grow. The true “dare” for our campus community is not just to dream of an inclusive university, but to make it a reality. 

To some, these acts of antisemitism may seem small, but to Jewish students, they are deeply personal. They send a message about who belongs and who doesn’t. If NYU truly dares to dream of a safe and welcoming community, then those dreams must be backed by courage, vigilance, and solidarity.