As the Chautauqua Institution, an exclusive resort community and cultural center in Western New York, plans its 2025 summer programming, concerns about antisemitism have clouded the otherwise exciting process. 

For months, Jewish community members who spend the summer at this picturesque enclave near Buffalo — known to many as the place where author Salman Rushdie was stabbed in 2022 by a man with alleged ties to Iran-backed terrorists — have quietly raised concerns to Chautauqua executives about a staff member who had published antisemitic statements online. 

And for months, nothing changed, with Chautauqua leaders calling for dialogue and understanding rather than taking steps to counter antisemitism or fire the employee, a demand made by leaders of Chautauqua’s Chabad, its Jewish community center and the Chautauqua Hebrew Congregation. That changed after a group of Jewish leaders went public with their concerns last month. 

The institution’s director of religion programs, Rafia Amina Khader, plans to resign from her position on Friday, Jill McCormick, Chautauqua’s director of communications and special projects, confirmed to Jewish Insider on Thursday. 

“Chautauqua Institution deeply regrets the pain and concern experienced recently in our community and has apologized sincerely for its role in that,” McCormick said. “We stand by our mission to promote interfaith dialogue and will be inviting community involvement in our conversations on how that part of our mission will continue to come to life moving forward.” 

Khader, a Muslim interfaith activist who joined the institution in the summer of 2023, wrote multiple public essays about the challenges of working in interfaith spaces after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. In one essay, which Chautauqua President Michael Hill shared in a press release praising her selection to an interfaith council, she called Oct. 7 a “momentous” day and refused to condemn Hamas. In another, she questioned whether she could be in the same room as a Zionist. 

“We’re happy to see that our original request that Rafia either step down or be terminated is happening, and we are hoping to follow up with the institution and get into a dialogue in some fashion about antisemitism,” said Leslie Adler, president of the Hebrew Congregation of Chautauqua, who worked with other Jewish leaders in the community to raise awareness of the issue. “Now we can move forward.”

Earlier on Thursday, Chautauqua’s board of directors sent an email to community members acknowledging “a series of Institution missteps and mistakes that have given way to frustration and outrage — especially for members of our Jewish community, for whom antisemitism is a very real and ongoing threat.” The board pledged to implement cultural education programs for staff, to develop a public speech policy for employees and conduct a review of interfaith work at the institution. 

A documentary celebrating the storied Chautauqua Institution’s 150th anniversary, featuring a special performance by celebrated jazz artist Wynton Marsalis, premiered on Tuesday on PBS.