Members of our MVPJ Steering Committee have visited with Stanford student hunger strikers and others who gather every evening at White Plaza for Muslim prayers and to call attention to the starving people of Gaza.
On May 24, 2025, MVPJ Steering Committee sent the following letter to Stanford University’s President Levin, and sent copies to the Office of the Provost and the Board of Trustees.
Dear President Levin,
As a multifaith group of religious leaders we write to ask you to change the way you are engaging the students who are advocating for the people of Palestine. We base this appeal on our traditions’ common values of mercy, mutual understanding, and caring.
We understand that students are now engaging in a hunger strike to draw attention to the starving people in Gaza. Hunger strikes are a time honored means of nonviolent action. They are only undertaken when other means to create change have failed. As you know they are undertaken at significant peril to the health and wellbeing of those committed to this action.
We ask that you respond to the young people engaged in this action with kindness and compassion. We urge you to sit down with these students in an honest public dialogue.
They seek a less violent world. As diverse people of faith we share this goal.
Specifically:
In the spirit of mutual understanding, we ask that you sit down with the students, hear their concerns, and sincerely seek to address those concerns.
In the spirit of caring, we ask that you remember these are young people who have been entrusted to your care.
In the spirit of mercy, we ask you to be aware of your tremendous power compared to these students, many of whom do not come from backgrounds of power and privilege. You may also have the power of state, the police, and the courts behind you. We ask that you wield this power in all cases with an abundance of mercy.
Sincerely,
Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice Steering Committee Members
Rev. Dr. Eileen Altman
Rabbi Amy Eilberg
Leif Erickson
Rev. Dr. Diana Gibson
Joe Haletky
Rev. Tom Harris
Kristi Iverson
Rev. Dean Koyama
Pastor Burke Owens
Samina Sundas