UNLV professor leads efforts to improve Jewish life on campus

Gregory Brown still remembers the feeling of watching history unfold as he received the news of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.

Brown, a UNLV history professor and Jewish American, said he felt fearful at the time over how the attacks could spur a global increase in antisemitism. But in the past two years, he has aimed to turn the tragedy into a learning opportunity for students and faculty at UNLV.

Brown is one of the professors at UNLV spearheading the advocacy for improving Jewish life on campus and creating a stronger awareness of the Jewish diaspora.

These efforts in the last two years have included the creation of the UNLV Jewish Faculty and Staff Affinity Group and the Task Force on Jewish Identity and Inclusion, groups that Brown said try to identify concerns of UNLV’s Jewish community and offer more educational programming about the community.

As a UNLV professor for 28 years, Brown recalled numerous past attempts to create similar Jewish affinity groups at the college that were never finalized because of a lack of urgency, as he described it. Now, the email chain for the affinity group has nearly 50 people.

“There has just not been a lot of exposure or thought about Jewish identity by a lot of people on this campus,” Brown said.

He described the group’s purpose as “advancing and normalizing Jewish identity.”

Rob Levrant, chair of the affinity group, said the group formed in 2024 as Jewish staff and faculty increasingly felt a need for a supportive space post-Oct. 7. Since its creation, Levrant said, the affinity group has held social events like a Hanukkah party and discussion panels.

“Even though there has long been a Jewish presence at UNLV … we didn’t necessarily connect with one another,” Levrant said.

Two years in

Like many universities in the last two years, UNLV has faced scrutiny over its actions in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks.

An ongoing lawsuit filed by a Jewish UNLV student in May 2024 claims the college, among other defendants, failed to address antisemitic discrimination he experienced. And on Sept. 30, the Department of Justice launched a discrimination investigation into UNLV that is focused on the school’s “response to antisemitism on campus,” according to a DOJ news release.

However, the Anti-Defamation League gave a B grade to UNLV in its 2025 “campus antisemitism report card.” It cited both the college’s Jewish staff and faculty group and advisory council to address antisemitism as strong points for the school. That advisory council is the Task Force on Jewish Identity and Inclusion, co-chaired by Brown.

Brown said the task force was made to give senior administrators recommendations on how they could improve the on-campus climate for Jewish students. Some of these recommendations have included increasing awareness of the school’s religious observance policy and increasing kosher dining options, he said.

As the two groups continue their work in the coming years, Brown said, unpredictable political change has made it difficult to forecast the direction their advocacy will take them. However, Brown said UNLV is supportive of their mission and aims to continue helping others at the school better understand Jewish identity.

“My hope is that the presence of Jewish curriculum and Jewish life at UNLV is part of that rich and vibrant Jewish culture that we have here in Las Vegas,” Brown said. “We participate in events that are opportunities, not just for Jewish students on campus, but for anybody, including members of the community, to come learn. That’s what the university is supposed to be for.”

Contact Spencer Levering at slevering@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253.