Recognizing Colorado Christian University's public displays of support for Israel and for Jewish students, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu penned a handwritten note of gratitude to the college last month.
“With much appreciation for your stalwart support for Israel, and with all best wishes,” Netanyahu wrote.
The letter was given to CCU Chancellor Donald Sweeting while he and two scholars visited Israel to develop a new course on the political philosophy of the Hebrew Bible.
Netanyahu's letter to Colorado Christian University
The university, with its main campus in Lakewood and a satellite campus in Colorado Springs, is collaborating with the Herzl Institute, a Jewish think-tank based in Jerusalem, on the new introductory course. Sweeting said the course hopes to address what he calls the "pervasive ignorance" of Gen Z students on the history of Israel and the Bible's teachings that he says goes unmentioned in other universities.
“We wanted to do something positive together to help change the increasingly radicalized American university culture, with its growing antisemitism and its ignorance about Israel and the Bible,” Sweeting said. “So we collaborated in a highly unusual project between Jews and Christians.”
According to CCU's website, the course will introduce students to the biblical narrative from Genesis to Kings along with the biblical conception of the family and the Mosaic rule of law and limited government.
During the two weeks in Israel, Sweeting and evangelical scholars met with Hebrew scholars, survivors of the October 7 attacks, members of the Israel Defense Forces, and Israeli cabinet members before making their own recommendations for the course.
When speaking with someone who works closely with Netanyahu, Sweeting mentioned the work the university had done over the past year.
Netanyahu later sent the handwritten letter.
"It was unexpected, but I'm grateful," Sweeting said. "Because he has a heavy task these days."
Following the assault on Israel by Hamas-led Palestinian terror groups on October 7 last year that killed about 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages, protests erupted on college campuses throughout the U.S. against the subsequent retaliation by Israel.
Protesters' concerns largely stemmed from the number of Palestinian casualties caused by Israel's offensive operation along with the U.S. government's financial support toward it. The Associated Press last month reported the total Palestinian death toll to be over 40,000.
Hamas' initial attack killed about 1,200 Israelis, in addition to taking more than 250 as hostages.
Since the start of the war, pro-Israel groups and individuals have expressed concerns that the pro-Palestinian demonstrations have increased instances of antisemitism and Jewish students feeling unsafe at their respective campuses.
Shortly after the initial attack, CCU held a prayer vigil and benefit dinner for Israel that raised over $1 million. Proceeds were sent to United Hatzalah, a volunteer emergency medical service organization that provides free services throughout Israel to those in need.
In July, following Netanyahu's address to Congress in Washington, CCU President Eric K. Hogue and Indiana Wesleyan University President Jon Kulaga released a joint press release in response to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations and increased hostility toward Jewish and Israeli students across U.S. colleges and universities.
“We want to make it clear to our nation and the world that our Christian institutions will not tolerate this behavior,” the letter read.
“We also want to express our profound concern that the terrible events we all witnessed at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year are already being forgotten. What we have all seen reveals a profound problem in the culture of many institutions, a problem which must be addressed.”
Pro-Palestinian rally at Colorado College draws students, faculty and alumni
The student-led demonstration featured multiple speakers on campus expressing concerns against the perceived economic support of the college to Israel amid the ongoing war with Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups since October.
The letter goes on to call all seminaries and universities to "review their commitment to upholding biblical principles of inclusivity and diversity" and invites Jewish students to enroll with the two universities.
"You will be welcomed, and you will be safe. We stand with you in solidarity and thank you for your community’s stewardship through many centuries of the values underpinning our institutions," the letter read.
Last Spring, campuses across Colorado held various pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Protests on Denver's Auraria campus — which hosts the Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, and University of Colorado Denver — resulted in damages totaling over $600,000.
Protests have reignited at the campus upon the start of the current semester, though to a much lesser degree than those during the spring semester.
In Colorado Springs, Colorado College was recently named in a federal complaint alleging that the private university allowed antisemitism and harassment to persist against Jewish students on campus since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
In a statement, Colorado College said that it strongly condemns antisemitism along with any kind of discrimination and harassment.
CCU's new political philosophy course is expected to begin instruction in the next academic year. For as long as the Israel-Hamas conflict continues, the university plans to put on further events that will likely feature lectures, guest speakers and additional fundraisers for Israeli victims.
"There's the whole question of why we're doing this, and it's because this is a moment (in history) where university professors need to speak," Sweeting said. "We're going to stand with our Jewish friends and we think that other universities should, as well."