Latest news with #Lichtman
New York Times
14-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
As Trump Attacks Elite Colleges, Their Usual Allies Are Nowhere in Sight
In a very short time, Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palestinian activist who was questionably detained by federal immigration officials, has become a symbol of the Trump administration's escalating antagonism toward elite universities. Columbia finds itself up against the impression that whatever it has done to combat what it perceived as antisemitism — suppressing campus protests of the war in Gaza with the help of the police; evicting and expelling rallying students; severing ties with a law professor who had been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause — it has not been nearly punitive enough. However egregious these measures might seem to champions of civil liberty, they strike people like Jeffrey Lichtman as cowardly and insufficient. Last year, Mr. Lichtman, a lawyer, represented a Columbia student and former member of the Israel Defense Forces in a suit against the university after he was suspended for showering protesters with foul-smelling joke spray that sickened some of them. Columbia settled for close to $400,000. Still, Mr. Lichtman believes that the university is so rife with hatred and disrespect for Jewish interests that it 'should be taken over by the federal government' — at least in the short term, he said to me recently. Just before Mr. Khalil was apprehended, the Trump administration took the comparatively modest step of canceling $400 million of Columbia's federal grants. A few days later, it warned 60 universities that a similar fate could await them. Among the schools listed were Harvard, Cornell and Johns Hopkins, where Michael Bloomberg, who once called President Trump 'a carnival barking clown,' made a $1 billion gift in July. The goal of the current White House to dismantle higher education — while running for the Senate, JD Vance plainly called universities the enemy — has elicited alarm from many quarters, but it is striking how little we have heard from the megadonor class. Their contributions of billions of dollars to major universities would suggest a significant investment in the mission (or at the very least a vain interest in keeping alive the buildings and centers and divisions to which they have purchased naming rights). The quiet was punctured this week when Bill Ackman, the hedge-fund manager who was instrumental in getting Claudine Gay removed from the presidency at Harvard last year, weighed in on X. He did not express concern about potential cuts to universities; rather he wanted to say that only 'financial and legal pressure' will get them back to a point at which 'sanity' might prevail. Under a different set of conditions, it would be easy to imagine wealthy Ivy League Democratic donors rising up to fill in the gaps left by an unwelcoming government. But in the current environment, the grievances of those donors — against diversity initiatives and unruly agitators — stand in precise alignment with the agenda in Washington. Even before the cuts were announced, the Stand Columbia Society, a consortium of alumni and current and former faculty committed to dissecting the wonkier aspects of campus operations, laid out in its newsletter just what would be at stake if the university lost hundreds of millions dollars in federal grant money. The society has pushed both for Columbia to take a position of institutional neutrality, as the University of Chicago has done for decades, and to work harder to fight campus antisemitism (so that the university does not 'dissipate due to the actions of a violent and nihilistic fringe mob'). It also made a persuasive argument that the disappearance of so much money would be catastrophic. Reviewing the university's 2024 financial statements, the writers pointed out that of the $1.3 billion Columbia receives annually from federal agencies, the bulk — $747 million — comes from the National Institutes of Health. About half the money goes to overhead, the cap for which has now been reduced. Whatever visions 'overhead' conjures of boondoggle trips to conferences in Prague, much of the money that does not go directly to research covers expenses like salaries, lab renovations, student supports and the administrative work required to comply with federal regulations, 168 of which were adopted over the last decade. Prestigious universities have come to find adversaries in many worlds, among the working class, among rich alumni, among highly educated progressives who find them self-regarding. 'Universities are good targets for resentment,' said Michael Roth, the president of Wesleyan University who has written about modern campus politics. 'They take such enormous pride in how many people they reject. 'We at universities have not done enough over the years to pay attention to those groups — conservative groups, religious groups — around the country that are essential parts of a democratic culture. The isolation makes us very vulnerable.' It has become common in the narrative of the current moment to compare campus upheaval to the disruptions of the late 1960s, but the sense of vindictiveness and distaste directed at the academy now can seem of a different order entirely. In 1968, Richard Nixon — famously hostile to campus radicals, and soon to be president — was asked by an interviewer about the public pressure 'to get tough and crack down on the student rebels.' What, the interviewer wanted to know, was his view of the role of dissent on the college campus? 'I'm for it,' Nixon responded. 'I'm for dissent, because as I look back at the 190-year history of this country, I find that dissent is the great instrument of change.'
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Holocaust survivor in Michigan who supported immigrants, Palestinians dies at 87
A few months after Donald Trump became president for the first time, Rene Lichtman marched down Woodward Avenue in Pontiac along with other protesters holding up a sign that read "No Human Being is Illegal." "You have to resist," he told the Free Press on the first day of May in 2017 at a rally in support of immigrants opposing raids by federal immigration agents. As a Holocaust survivor aided by a Catholic family in France who took him in, Lichtman drew upon his life experiences as a Jewish child during World War II to guide his views, becoming a noted activist in Michigan. He often demonstrated in support of immigrants and Palestinians, speaking to students and others about the Holocaust. Lichtman died last week at the age of 87 in Troy while in hospice care. He had recently lived in Southfield and West Bloomfield and is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren, according to the Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield, family and friends. He died on Jan. 28, his funeral was held Saturday and religious and family services continued until Monday at a home in West Bloomfield. He was buried at Beth Moses Cemetery in Roseville. At his funeral and in online tributes over the past week, the Jewish activist was remembered as an outspoken man whose views and ideas are once again relevant today amid concern over Gaza and immigration enforcement as Trump starts a second term. He was a controversial figure, drawing criticism at times from others in the Jewish community who objected to his frequent criticisms of Israel that invoked the Holocaust. In December 2023, he laid down in the street, with police around him, in front of The Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills to bring attention to Israel's attacks in Gaza, holding a sign that read: "Jews and Allies say: Never Again for Anyone." The sign referred to the Holocaust, a controversial comparison that led to the Holocaust center dropping him as a speaker for its Survivor Talk Sundays series, according to a report in the Forward, a Jewish media outlet. "One of the true greats of his generation," Rabbi Alana Alpert of Congregation T'chiyah in Ferndale said of Lichtman at his funeral in Southfield. "It is upon us to continue fighting for the world he so wanted for us." Alpert spoke about how Lichtman being helped by a Christian family during the Holocaust helped him work across different cultures and faiths to fight for social justice. "For all the trauma that he experienced, he received the gift from the Lepage family of the understanding that cross-ethnic solidarity is possible, that another world is possible," said Alpert, one of the founders of Detroit Jews for Justice. "Rene came through with a powerful belief in humanity, and a commitment of 'never again, for anyone." Lichtman was born in 1937 in Paris, France to Jewish migrants from Poland. Lichtman's father was killed by the Nazis while serving in the French military after Germany invaded France, according to oral histories. A Catholic family in France had sheltered him for a few years after his mother had to go into hiding; they were later reunited and moved to the United States in 1950 when he was 12 years old, according to an obituary by Ira Kaufman Chapel. Those childhood experiences shaped Lichtman's views as he became a frequent speaker in Michigan on the Holocaust and was one of the leaders of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and the Hidden Children and Child Survivors of Michigan. Outside of his activism, Licthman was an abstract painter and had worked at Beaumont Hospital in instructional technology. In 2019, he spoke at a 'Close the Camps' rally in front of The Zekelman Holocaust Center, speaking out against U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement and immigrant detention camps. One sign at the rally equated ICE to Nazis. On the other side of the street, others in the Jewish community and allies rejected such a comparison as offensive, holding up signs that read immigrant "Detention centers are not concentration camps" and "Stop exploiting the Holocaust." Licthman "was a good man, a 'mensch,'" Charles Silow, executive vice president of the World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants, and co-president of Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, wrote in an online tribute, using a Yiddish-language word to describe a man of honor. "He was a pioneer in bringing awareness to the importance of what Hidden Children and Child Survivors of the Holocaust endured. Child Holocaust survivors had memories of what they went through, their experiences of persecution and those who rescued them have become an important part of Holocaust education and remembrance. Rene spoke of his experiences to countless groups and helped bring awareness of the importance of speaking out against antisemitism and social injustice." When Detroit Jews for Justice was founded 10 years ago, Alpert spoke with Lichtman, whom she said was supportive of the group as well as Black Lives Matter and other protest movements. She was working on an op-ed objecting to then-Gov. Rick Snyder's call to halt the influx of Syrian refugees, asking him to bless her to make connections with the Nazi Holocaust in her piece. He agreed, telling her that the point of Holocaust education should be to make it relevant for the current eras we live in and other causes. Alpert said he told her: "There will always be some Jews, survivors who will say 'This is not the same. Nothing can compare to' and they continue to play the hierarchy of suffering game, leading them to always find reasons to do nothing. They find reasons to keep the Shoah like some kind of museum artifact, pure, on a shelf, but gathering dust. The Shoah and Holocaust memory must have relevance to today, to conditions we face. We experienced being blocked. ... We should not allow others to also be blocked from entering." His family has asked that any donations in his memory be given to four groups, which include some Jewish organizations and a group that helps immigrants. Free Press photographer David Rodriguez Munoz, The Monroe News and The Times Herald contributed to this report. Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@ or X @nwarikoo This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rene Lichtman, Michigan Holocaust survivor and activist, dies at 87
USA Today
07-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Holocaust survivor in Michigan who supported immigrants, Palestinians dies at 87
Holocaust survivor in Michigan who supported immigrants, Palestinians dies at 87 Show Caption Hide Caption Palestinians allowed to return home since the start of the war Thousands of displaced Palestinians started making their way toward northern Gaza for the first time since the start of the war. A few months after Donald Trump became president for the first time, Rene Lichtman marched down Woodward Avenue in Pontiac along with other protesters holding up a sign that read "No Human Being is Illegal." "You have to resist," he told the Free Press on the first day of May in 2017 at a rally in support of immigrants opposing raids by federal immigration agents. As a Holocaust survivor aided by a Catholic family in France who took him in, Lichtman drew upon his life experiences as a Jewish child during World War II to guide his views, becoming a noted activist in Michigan. He often demonstrated in support of immigrants and Palestinians, speaking to students and others about the Holocaust. Lichtman died last week at the age of 87 in Troy while in hospice care. He had recently lived in Southfield and West Bloomfield and is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren, according to the Ira Kaufman Chapel in Southfield, family and friends. He died on Jan. 28, his funeral was held Saturday and religious and family services continued until Monday at a home in West Bloomfield. He was buried at Beth Moses Cemetery in Roseville. At his funeral and in online tributes over the past week, the Jewish activist was remembered as an outspoken man whose views and ideas are once again relevant today amid concern over Gaza and immigration enforcement as Trump starts a second term. He was a controversial figure, drawing criticism at times from others in the Jewish community who objected to his frequent criticisms of Israel that invoked the Holocaust. In December 2023, he laid down in the street, with police around him, in front of The Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills to bring attention to Israel's attacks in Gaza, holding a sign that read: "Jews and Allies say: Never Again for Everyone." The sign referred to the Holocaust, a controversial comparison that led to the Holocaust center dropping him as a speaker for its Survivor Talk Sundays series, according to a report in the Forward, a Jewish media outlet. "One of the true greats of his generation," Rabbi Alana Alpert of Congregation T'chiyah in Ferndale said of Lichtman at his funeral in Southfield. "It is upon us to continue fighting for the world he so wanted for us." Alpert spoke about how Lichtman being helped by a Christian family during the Holocaust helped him work across different cultures and faiths to fight for social justice. "For all the trauma that he experienced, he received the gift from the Lepage family of the understanding that cross-ethnic solidarity is possible, that another world is possible," said Alpert, one of the founders of Detroit Jews for Justice. "Rene came through with a powerful belief in humanity, and a commitment of 'never again, for anyone." Lichtman was born in 1937 in Paris, France to Jewish migrants from Poland. Lichtman's father was killed by the Nazis while serving in the French military after Germany invaded France, according to oral histories. A Catholic family in France had sheltered him for a few years after his mother had to go into hiding; they were later reunited and moved to the United States in 1950 when he was 12 years old, according to an obituary by Ira Kaufman Chapel. Those childhood experiences shaped Lichtman's views as he became a frequent speaker in Michigan on the Holocaust and was one of the leaders of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and the Hidden Children and Child Survivors of Michigan. Outside of his activism, Licthman was an abstract painter and had worked at Beaumont Hospital in instructional technology. In 2019, he spoke at a 'Close the Camps' rally in front of The Zekelman Holocaust Center, speaking out against U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement and immigrant detention camps. One sign at the rally equated ICE to Nazis. On the other side of the street, others in the Jewish community and allies rejected such a comparison as offensive, holding up signs that read immigrant "Detention centers are not concentration camps" and "Stop exploiting the Holocaust." Licthman "was a good man, a 'mensch,'" Charles Silow, executive vice president of the World Federation of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants, and co-president of Children of Holocaust-Survivors Association In Michigan, wrote in an online tribute, using a Yiddish-language word to describe a man of honor. "He was a pioneer in bringing awareness to the importance of what Hidden Children and Child Survivors of the Holocaust endured. Child Holocaust survivors had memories of what they went through, their experiences of persecution and those who rescued them have become an important part of Holocaust education and remembrance. Rene spoke of his experiences to countless groups and helped bring awareness of the importance of speaking out against antisemitism and social injustice." When Detroit Jews for Justice was founded 10 years ago, Alpert spoke with Lichtman, whom she said was supportive of the group as well as Black Lives Matter and other protest movements. She was working on an op-ed objecting to then-Gov. Rick Snyder's call to halt the influx of Syrian refugees, asking him to bless her to make connections with the Nazi Holocaust in her piece. He agreed, telling her that the point of Holocaust education should be to make it relevant for the current eras we live in and other causes. Alpert said he told her: "There will always be some Jews, survivors who will say 'This is not the same. Nothing can compare to' and they continue to play the hierarchy of suffering game, leading them to always find reasons to do nothing. They find reasons to keep the Shoah like some kind of museum artifact, pure, on a shelf, but gathering dust. The Shoah and Holocaust memory must have relevance to today, to conditions we face. We experienced being blocked. ... We should not allow others to also be blocked from entering." His family has asked that any donations in his memory be given to four groups, which include some Jewish organizations and a group that helps immigrants. Free Press photographer David Rodriguez Munoz, The Monroe News and The Times Herald contributed to this report. Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@ or X @nwarikoo
CBS News
30-01-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Chicago area figure skaters mourn friends who died when plane, helicopter collided over D.C.
BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. (CBS) -- The plane that crashed into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. after colliding in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night was transporting some passengers returning home from a development camp held in connection with the U.S. Figure Skating championships. The tragedy has had a massive impact on Chicago's figure skating community. The first thing Chicago area figure skaters said Thursday was that they were in shock. The athletes are all in group chats and follow each other on social media, so it didn't take long to figure out that American Eagle Flight No. 5342 was carrying their friends home from the event they all attended in Wichita, Kansas. "Skating is a very small, tight-knit community," said skater Rebecca Lichtman. "We're all around each other. There are a lot of connections with one another." Lichtman said it is emotional when she takes the ice at her home rink in Buffalo Grove, wearing the jacket she received while at that same National Development Camp in Wichita earlier this week. It was held in connection with the recent U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and many of the skating families overlapped at the events. Lichtman shared a photo of her training squad with her arm around Alydia Livingston — who was killed in the plane crash. Another photo showing the Chicago area kids at the development camp was shared on Instagram by 16-year-old Spencer Lane. He was also killed in the crash. A video with Spencer showed another victim, Franco Aparicio. In another photo, Jiaying Ellyse Johnson of North Barrington smiled with Jinna Han from Boston. The two were expecting to see each other again next week, but Han too was killed in the plane crash. "I've never went through something like this. This is completely new to me," said Johnson, "and I'm trying my best to handle it and just like keep their families in their prayers and in my thoughts." At least two of the skaters practicing in Buffalo Grove on Thursday were set to flay to a training camp in Boston on Sunday. That rink in Boston is Han and Lane's home rink. The Chicago area skaters said they don't know how they'll feel when they get to Boston, but they know their friends loved the sport — and they see visiting the rink for the training camp as a way to honor them.
