Response to Ronald J. Daniels ~ We are pleased that, in response to my Sept. 30 essay, “Johns Hopkins must live up to its ideals,” JHU President Ronald J. Daniels has finally written with appropriate forcefulness that Johns Hopkins takes antisemitism seriously. Daniels’ Oct. 1 letter improves on the rote, vague denunciations of anti-Semitism and racism that JHU previously issued. Broad, bland, and generic public statements are ubiquitous and useless, while private letters are insufficient to address public harms. Unfortunately, Daniels fails even now to fully grasp JHU’s responsibilities. While privacy laws may restrict disclosures of internal disciplinary proceedings, they do not prevent JHU from addressing – and healing – the wounds that recent anti-Semitism has caused. As the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has noted, when “behavior implicates the civil rights laws, school administrators should look beyond simply [investigating and] disciplining the perpetrators.” Under federal civil rights law, the University must also take prompt and effective steps to eliminate any hostile environment and its effects. Even now, it appears that JHU is only concerned about whether instructors are deliberately downgrading Jewish students on their chemistry grades because of political grudges against Israel. While it is disgraceful that any instructor would publicly contemplate doing so, the bigger issue is the public taunting of JHU’s Jewish student body. A prompt, effective response to this Jew-baiting was never provided. Now that President Daniels is publicly addressing this matter, we expect that JHU will follow through on those commitments that he has at long last made. And we hope that JHU will address not only rights infractions but also the climate that they have affected. by Kenneth L. Marcus Founder and Chairman The Louis D. Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under Law