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Student testimony to state commission: 'Hiding my Star of David' after repeated school harassment
Summary
A Jewish student testified before the commission that repeated classroom incidents and social‑media harassment left her embarrassed, fearful and less willing to express Jewish identity; she urged comprehensive education so peers understand antisemitism.
Maddie Katzen, a Jewish freshman at UMass Lowell and formerly a teen task‑force co‑chair, told the Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism that her first school experience of targeted antisemitism occurred in fifth grade and that later incidents included specific threats and sustained harassment.
Katzen described an episode she said occurred in a high‑school classroom when a classmate asked to borrow a pen and responded, "give me the pen or I'll gas you." She said the school investigated but that she felt the disciplinary response was insufficient; the cumulative effect is that she often concealed Jewish symbols to avoid being targeted. "Teachers must be responsible for teaching facts and not spotlighting Jewish students just because they're Jewish," Katzen said.
Katzen urged schools to teach the history and consequences of antisemitism and to prepare students to recognize and confront hateful speech. She credited her work with the Lappin Foundation’s teen antisemitism task force for giving her factual resources and confidence to speak up but said many classmates still posted antisemitic content and false information online after October 7.
Commissioners responded with questions about how students and schools can report incidents, the role of community support groups, and how curricula might be adapted. The commission’s discussion emphasized both the legal guidance for schools and the emotional support students need; members asked the chairs to collect examples of proactive student‑facing programming to share statewide.
Next steps: the commission said it will continue collecting student testimony and resources; it asked the Lappin Foundation and other presenters to provide materials for a public landing page.
