National Post
· collected 2026-09-06 · by Special to National Post
analysis
Eva Kuper, a Holocaust survivor and educator, writes about the role universities can play in combating hate. As students return to campus, many are facing antisemitism and other forms of prejudice, with some feeling isolated or intimidated due to their Jewish identity. According to Kuper, universities have a responsibility to defend values such as human dignity and truth, and should foster an environment where dialogue and intellectual honesty can thrive. Kuper argues that the answer to hatred is not more hatred or silence, but rather courageous dialogue joined with action to defend another person's dignity.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.60, but every quote it verified points left, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 5295: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-09-06
As students begin a new academic year, they are probably thinking about classes, friendships and the future they hope to build.
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they → begin → classes
I hope they will think as well about the kind of person they intend to become.
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they → hope → person
I was born in Warsaw in 1940, confined with my family in the Warsaw Ghetto and saved from deportation as a small child.
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I → bear → child
I survived the war in hiding.
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I → survive → hiding
My mother did not.
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mother → do → ?
As such, I learned early how quickly a society can lose its moral bearings.
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society → learn → bearings
The Holocaust did not begin with the gas chambers.
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Holocaust → begin → chambers
It began with words, propaganda, exclusion and the gradual acceptance of the idea that some people matter less than others.
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people → begin → others
It advanced because hatred was organized and too many people remained silent.
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people → advance → ?
Beginning in 1933, Jewish professors in Nazi Germany were dismissed and Jewish students faced growing restrictions.
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students → begin → restrictions
By 1938, they had been excluded from German universities altogether.
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they → exclude → universities
Institutions devoted to knowledge can still fail their purpose when prejudice replaces truth and intimidation replaces inquiry.
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intimidation → devote → inquiry
It should teach students to think critically, distinguish evidence from assertion and understand that intelligence must go hand-in-hand with conscience.
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intelligence → teach → conscience
Students are returning to campuses at a time when information travels in seconds and falsehoods often move faster than facts.
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falsehoods → return → facts
Slogans often replace serious thought, while outrage is rewarded more readily than understanding.
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outrage → replace → understanding
Many Jewish students are also returning with fears that earlier generations hoped would not return.
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generations → return → fears
Some have been isolated or intimidated.
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Some → isolate → ?
Some have wondered whether to conceal symbols of their Jewish identity, avoid certain spaces or remain silent about who they are.
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they → wonder → spaces
No student should be made to feel that way.
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student → make → ?
Antisemitism is not only a Jewish problem; it is an assault on truth, human dignity and the values education is meant to defend.
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education → mean → truth
University should be a place where ideas are tested through reason, disagreement leads to honest dialogue and every student can learn without fear.
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student → test → fear
Dialogue is one of our strongest defences against prejudice: it tests assumptions, makes room for lived experience and allows us to encounter a person rather than a stereotype.
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us → test → person
It does not require agreement.
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It → require → agreement
It requires intellectual honesty and recognition of another person’s humanity.
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It → require → humanity
The answer is dialogue joined with courage: to question misinformation, listen before judging, speak truth without dehumanizing and defend another person’s dignity even when doing so carries a cost.
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doing → join → cost
My hope for students beginning this academic year is that they will stand beside classmates who face prejudice because of their religion, race, ethnicity or background; that they will build friendships across differences and create opportunities for honest conversation; that they will choose dialogue over slogans, curiosity over assumption and truth over convenience.
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they → begin → convenience
A conversation may seem like a small act, but it can interrupt prejudice before it hardens into hatred.
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it → seem → hatred
I spent my professional life in education and educational administration, teaching and leading programs for children and adults.
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I → spend → children
Since retiring, I have shared my testimony with thousands through the Montreal Holocaust Museum, where I serve on the board, and with students on March of the Living journeys to Poland.
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I → retire → Poland
Again and again, I have seen young people listen, reflect and change.
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people → see → ?
That is why I still have hope.
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I → have → hope
Soon, survivors will no longer be able to tell students in person what we witnessed.
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we → tell → what
Our memories — and the responsibility to recognize lies, dehumanization and indifference — will pass into the care of future generations.
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memories → recognize → generations
As students begin this academic year, I hope they leave their classrooms with more than knowledge.
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they → begin → knowledge
I hope they leave with wisdom, compassion and the courage to stand for what is right.
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what → hope → wisdom
I hope they build a future worthy of those who did not live to see it, and of every generation still to come.
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who → hope → generation
