What started last year as one Cal professor’s insistent, round-the-clock protest against his university’s handling of antisemitism concerns captured attention across the world and led to change on campus.
On Tuesday, UC Berkeley professor Ron Hassner, who began working and sleeping in his office in March 2024 in protest of his university’s lack of support for Jewish students, earned recognition from a national nonprofit for his “extraordinary courage” and “moral leadership.”
Hassner, the Chancellor’s Professor of Political Science and the Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies, accepted the inaugural Faculty Changemaker Award from the Academic Engagement Network (AEN), a group that mobilizes university faculty and administrators to counter antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Mark Yudof, former president of the University of California system and former chancellor of the University of Texas system, chairs the advisory board of AEN, which was founded in 2015.
Hassner told J. on Wednesday that he was “honored, humbled and delighted” by the award and by the standing ovation he received from hundreds of college students, faculty and others who attended the event.
“It was very moving. And my mom who watched the video has kvelled, which is, after all, why we do these things. It’s a tremendous honor,” said Hassner, who is also faculty co-director of Cal’s Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies.
Miriam Elman, executive director of AEN, said in a statement that Hassner “took a bold and deeply principled stand, guided by his conscience and by a profound sense of responsibility to his students, colleagues, and the ideals of the university itself.”
The award ceremony took place in Washington, D.C., during the Israel on Campus Coalition’s national summit of 700 college students, the largest annual pro-Israel student gathering in the U.S., according to AEN.
Several political leaders spoke at the summit, including former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), as did former hostages Keith and Aviva Siegel and hostage family members Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, whose son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was killed last summer in Hamas captivity.
In April, inspired by Hassner’s leadership, AEN said, it launched the Faculty Against Antisemitism Movement (FAAM) specifically to help academics stand up against antisemitism and anti-Zionism on their campuses.
Hassner worked, slept and entertained in his tiny office for two weeks in March 2024. For one night during the campaign, more than 30 professors across California also slept in their offices and posted about it on social media to show solidarity with Cal students facing antisemitism.
When Hassner ended his office sleep-in, he did so triumphantly, writing in an open letter to students that Cal administrators had agreed to the actions he’d called for:
- They vowed to ensure clear and safe access through Sather Gate, the main entrance to campus, which had been repeatedly blocked by anti-Israel protesters since Oct. 7, 2023.
- They agreed to invite Israeli attorney and IDF combat reservist Ran Bar-Yoshafat back to campus to speak, after pro-Palestinian protesters stormed Zellerbach Playhouse, cancelling his scheduled talk in February 2024.
- They promised to institute mandatory trainings about antisemitism and Islamophobia for all incoming students and resident advisers, starting last fall.
During the 2024-2025 academic year, while Hassner was on leave from teaching, the federal government launched multiple investigations into allegations of antisemitism at UC Berkeley, including by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“It’s a crucial moment. We’re undergoing all sorts of change. I think one of the key changes is that gaslighting Jews about antisemitism on campus is no longer an option, Hassner told J. on Wednesday. “It’s become very clear to everybody from looking at the evidence and listening to the testimonies and hearing story after story that antisemitism on American campuses is a real issue.”