San Dieguito student organizes display of kindness to combat antisemitic incident on campus

San Dieguito Academy students responded to a hateful, antisemitic incident on campus with their own message of unity and compassion.

San Dieguito Union High School District administration said they learned just last month that on May 30, a group of eight students created a human formation of a swastika on the school athletic field, timed to the flyover of a Jewish San Dieguito student with his flying instructor. The student saw the hateful image and captured a photo from above.

After hearing recently about what happened in the spring, SDA senior Jonah Lupien, an ASB leader and student representative on the SDUHSD board, organized a demonstration bringing together hundreds of students, teachers and staff to form the shape of the heart on the field on Sept. 25. He hoped the display would show that “the San Dieguito Academy will not stand for hate and that kindness, compassion, and belonging define who we are.”

“In the past few weeks, we have seen within our school what we often see within our nation. We have seen the breakdown of dialogue, the spreading of hate, and a division of community,” Jonah said in a news release. “I realized that as a member of this community, I have a responsibility to enact the change I want to see.”

The antisemitic incident was brought to light by the student’s parent Larry Gordon, during public comment at the Sept. 11 board meeting. He said while the hate crime was incredibly upsetting to his son, the greater hate crime was the “crime of silence” in the school’s delay to promptly report the incident to law enforcement and by not disciplining the students involved.

“By failing to act, this district turned a student act of hate into an institutional act of racism,” Gordon said.

Superintendent Anne Staffieri sent a message to the entire district community on Sept. 18 denouncing the “shocking and appalling” act and reiterating the district’s support for the student who witnessed the hateful symbol and support for the safety of the Jewish community and all students on campus.

According to Staffieri, while the student’s family reported the incident to the San Dieguito Academy administration in May, unfortunately, it was not brought to the attention of the district administrators until late last month — “a clear and unacceptable breakdown in communication between the school and the district.”

“Once I became aware of the image, we took action to work with the families of the students involved and immediately launched an investigation, which is still ongoing,” Staffieri wrote in her letter. “Additionally, we have reviewed and amplified our efforts to remind all students and staff that hate in any form will not be tolerated on our campuses. We are working to ensure that students impacted by this incident feel safe and supported, and that important lessons are learned.”

“Those who are outraged, please know that I hear you,” she continued. “We all know, or should know, that the image of a swastika is hateful and hurtful and creation of this image is a call to action for our district to double down on our efforts to call out hate when we see it.”

As a student, Jonah is doing his part to take action, making just one step toward healing. He said he came up with the idea for the human heart formation after having conversations with his family and with input from his Jewish community. He said that the action is just the start of something, not the end, as he will continue to stand up against hate.

“I hope today offered the same sense of relief and purpose [for others] that it did for me,” Jonah said in the news release.  “I had worried about apathy, but seeing students come together to promote kindness and compassion erased those fears. Today, I felt embraced and supported by my peers in a way that was deeply inspiring.”