It’s hard for Jewish students to feel isolated at UF. There are around 6,500 Jewish undergraduates here, Hillel estimates, making the school almost one-fifth Jewish.
And while protests prompted Columbia University and the University of Southern California to cancel their main graduations, UF’s was held May 3 with little disruption. Unlike dozens of other schools, UF has had no “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” though that’s not for lack of trying. After nine arrests in late April, pro-Palestinian students have returned daily to a small “Liberation Zone” where they continue to hold events, including a Nakba Week that started Monday. Earlier this year, DeSantis tried to ban chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida’s public universities. But despite the crackdown on protests, and the official Florida welcome to Jewish students, many of them said they feel alienated on campus, and that it’s not the utopia Jewish students elsewhere may be seeking.
