UM senior Katherine Levingston was in shock when she first heard about the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 people dead on Oct. 27.
“It was just very shocking to see it happen in a temple because it was always something I would hear about growing up, about how it happened in the past, and it was very shocking to hear about it happening now,” said Levingston, president of the University of Mississippi Hillel, a group for Jewish students.
Authorities say 11 people were killed and six were injured at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when Robert Bowers opened fire with an AR-15 and several handguns last Saturday. The mass shooting is the deadliest attack in U.S. history on Jewish people in America.
University of Mississippi Hillel’s faculty adviser, writing and rhetoric professor Wendy Goldberg, said she was troubled because she “didn’t know who had been injured” and was worried about the people there.
“It makes me wonder if we’re going to have to have security at our events, unfortunately,” Goldberg said. “That’s something that worries me.”
Levingston expressed her wish that the Jewish community discuss what has happened while it’s fresh on their minds, saying she wants to “make sure there’s an open dialogue about everything, making sure everyone knows what’s going on and why it happened.”
Both Levingston and Goldberg have talked about the possibility of increased security at certain events, but nothing, as of this moment, has been confirmed as far as changes to how the Hillel group will operate.
When asked how she felt about the safety of Oxford community members who practice different faiths in wake of this tragedy, Goldberg expressed worry and said there is a large degree of sadness and disappointment throughout the country and the Oxford community.
“It really does sadden me that this is happening and this is occurring where people were at a place of worship, where people would think is a very safe place to worship and express and be who they are, and to have that safety just taken from them,” Levingston said.
Levingston and Goldberg both said they advocate for awareness and education about these events and about anti-Semitism to prevent these tragedies from happening here.
Next steps for the Jewish community here at the university are still uncertain. A call to awareness seems to be the overarching message of the Jewish community here at Ole Miss.
“Awareness is key in times like this to know exactly what happened, and I think it’s important students of all religions know that they are safe, here at Ole Miss, to practice their religions and be who they are,” Levingston said.
Students can refer to the university’s Bias Incident Response Team for recommendations on how to respond to bias-related incidents within the UM community. The university allows students to report “conduct, speech or expressions that are threatening, harassing, intimidating, discriminatory, or hostile and are motivated by a person’s identity or group affiliation” through the Bias Incident Report Form online.
