PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on Monday that some universities were “willing to forgo” their responsibilities to protect Jewish students on campus, singling out the University of Pennsylvania for having “lost its way” and “working to get back” to a better place. 

Shapiro, a Democrat, made the comments in conversation with American Jewish Committee CEO Ted Deutch at an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the organization’s Philadelphia-South Jersey chapter. The governor’s comments came in response to a question from Deutch about how colleges and universities had responded to the surge of campus antisemitism since Oct. 7. 

“Universities have a moral and a legal responsibility to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to this country to keep all students safe on campus,” Shapiro said. “For some universities, I think they were willing to forgo that responsibility, or it got a little bit out of balance. Some universities were willing to accept a little bit of hate over here, but no hate over here, and that’s not OK.” 

“While I realize there’s a lot of gray area when it comes to figuring out exactly where that line is, I do think it’s important everybody adhere to those basic principles,” Shapiro added. “And there are many colleges and universities here in Pennsylvania that are … I think, candidly, Penn lost its way. They are working to get back. There’s some important work there happening under their interim president. I think they are moving in the right direction there, and many other universities are as well.”

The Democratic governor noted “that a lot of what we’re seeing on campus really didn’t have a lot to do with the students, but had a whole lot to do with some faculty. And I think it was important that university leaders are holding faculty accountable as well, so that they are teaching actual facts and that they are not encouraging students to break the rules, and that we have order and discipline on campus.” 

Shapiro told the crowd at the Bellevue Hotel that there is “no nuance” when it comes to antisemitism, but acknowledged that there is “a far more gray area” regarding criticism of Israel or the U.S.’ Middle East policy.

“It is important that we have two separate conversations: one about antisemitism and the other about Israel,” the Pennsylvania governor said. “Antisemitism, hatred, bigotry in all forms, it is not okay, and everyone in a position of public trust, everyone has a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity, to speak out against it. It doesn’t matter who is sharing those sentiments, if they’re members of your own party, if they’re people you otherwise might agree with on some other issue, we have a responsibility to speak out against it.”

“When it comes to the issue of Israel, foreign policy and Middle East policy, that’s a far more gray area,” he added. “I think it is important to continue to speak out in support of Israel. And I think it is also acceptable if one wants to respectfully criticize a policy coming from the Israeli government. There is a difference there.”

Deutch then asked Shapiro if he was impacted emotionally by the “No Genocide Josh” movement that emerged over the summer urging Vice President Kamala Harris against selecting Shapiro as her running mate over his support for Israel. Shapiro responded that while he was not personally hurt by the effort or other antisemitic attacks, he was emotionally impacted by the reactions of other American Jews. 

“I’m not offended or upset by the attacks that people make against me or the antisemitic attacks against me. What I get upset about, what I worry about is how that makes other people feel and whether that causes them to retreat or causes them to maybe not do something they were going to do, or not go somewhere where they were going to go. That is upsetting, and I try to spend as much time as I can with people who are affected by that, trying to make sure they have the strength to continue to go forward,” Shapiro explained. 

“On that, I felt a responsibility to try and lift them up and strengthen them, and let them know that they should be proud of who they are and proud of who I am, and sort of help them brush off the noise,” he said. 

Shapiro argued that “there is no one party that has a clean record on” antisemitism, adding that it was important to make sure that individuals who are “putting forth those words of hate, they are condemned.”

“I’m a proud Democrat, and I want to make sure that the Democratic Party continues to stand with Israel, and I’m gonna continue to do my part to raise my voice to ensure that it does,” Shapiro said. “I lament the fact that in recent years, the issue of Israel has become weaponized in our political system. I think Israel is far safer and far stronger when the relationship that elected officials in America have [with it] is on a really bipartisan or nonpartisan basis.”

Speaking to Jewish Insider on the sidelines of the event, Shapiro responded affirmatively when asked if he was confident that Zionists have a place in the Democratic Party.

“I am [confident], otherwise I wouldn’t be a Democrat. I’m proud to be a Democrat, and I think we have to speak the truth. There is antisemitism on the left, and there is antisemitism on the right,” Shapiro told JI. “It is critically important for leaders to speak and act with moral clarity and speak out against it, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it’s within your own party. So that’s why I’ll continue to speak out against antisemitism. I’ll continue to try and educate others, and I’ll continue to be a strong advocate.”

Shapiro noted that “neither party is immune from” antisemitism within its ranks.

“I think it’s also true that American Jews care about a whole lot of things. They care about Israel, they care about health care policy, they care about foreign policy, they care about tax policy,” he said. “I think what continues to be clear is that the vast, vast majority of American Jews are voting for Democrats. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t problems that need to be addressed within the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.”