Learning to ‘Protect Our House’

In response to the escalating tensions that have affected Jewish students on high school and college campuses since October 7, Dr. Jonathan Mangot of Alpine has created a pilot program to help keep them safe.

It will run at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly on August 12.

“Antisemitic incidents, religious profiling and campus demonstrations are not a new problem for Jewish students on or around college campuses,” Dr. Mangot said. “These kinds of incidents have been brewing for decades,” citing protests that took place in Washington Square Park near NYU. His younger daughter, Micaela, graduated from NYU in 2018. “Micaela recalls weekly demonstrations outside the window of her dorm in the Weinstein Building that houses Jewish students, and at the kosher dining hall. One day a man on the street spilled coffee on her and chased her. When she ran into a shop to call the police, he yelled, ‘You’re a Jew!’” (She was wearing a Jewish star necklace.)

His older daughter, Arianna, who attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, did not have similar experiences. He believes that recent campus protests have become more volatile and threatening to a student’s sense of personal safety.

Dr. Mangot, who grew up in Teaneck, has practiced cosmetic and restorative dentistry in Bergen County for more than 25 years. He and his wife, Allison, participate actively in local Jewish life; they are members of the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, and Temple Emanu-El of Closter. Dr. Mangot has been part of the Berrie Fellows Leadership cohort sponsored by the federation and the Russell Berrie Foundation. It was during Micaela’s wedding weekend in May that Dr. Mangot had what he calls his lightbulb moment. The wedding was in Montreal, so “we walked around the campus of McGill University,” he said. “We saw the encampments.

“After walking around twice, we approached the Jewish kids who were there. Most expressed a general discomfort. One senior had just finished his last final and was upset that he could not enjoy being on his own campus.”

This caused Dr. Mangot to think about how students have been feeling on high school and college campuses around the globe since October 7. “It occurred to me then that students needed to know how to protect themselves,” he said. “Was there a way to teach them to be proactive vs. reactive?”

Considering ways to support and empower students in this endeavor, Dr. Mangot reached out to Tim Torell, the federation’s community security director. “I knew I couldn’t go rogue with this,” he said. “I needed Tim’s experience and stamp of approval.”

Mr. Torell was certified by Louisiana State University to provide the Run-Hide-Fight course, which trains participants in how to react to active shooter and active threat situations. “The course’s goal is to teach participants to employ this response paradigm to increase the chances of survival during an active threat incident,” Mr. Torell said; he has presented training programs to synagogues, day schools, and other Jewish organizations in Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties.

“Once I spoke with Tim and got his buy-in, I contacted Ronnie Allen at the JCC on the Palisades,” Dr. Mangot said.

Mr. Allen, a fitness professional and martial arts expert, is a certified master instructor of Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defense system. “Ronnie has been teaching classes at the JCC on the Palisades for the past two years,” Dr. Mangot said. “I have taken some of his classes and am impressed by the skills he teaches to safeguard and empower people of all ages and cultures.”

Both Mr. Torell and Mr. Allen appreciated Dr. Mangot’s goal, particularly in this political climate. “University campuses across the country and around the world are facing protests of increasing intensity,” Dr. Mangot said. “In addition to teaching strength training to individuals who feel unsafe, there is a need for all students — whether on school grounds or on college campuses — to have a first line of defense in mitigating a threat before the arrival of school security or the police.”

Dr. Mangot spoke at the federation’s annual meeting in June, addressing “the tensions on college campuses and how students were experiencing a lack of preparedness when faced with conflict,” he said. “At the reception, I was approached by Eddie Quvus, a Glen Rock resident who was there with his parents. Eddie, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, introduced himself. He was eager to talk with me about what he and his Jewish friends had been experiencing at Penn,” he said. “We connected right away.”

Mr. Quvus told Dr. Mangot harrowing stories of events and incidents at Penn — there were pro-Palestinian protesters who took over the common area in the student union; encampments on College Green in front of the library; disruptions outside Huntsman Hall, where his classes are held; and vandalism at the school’s Hillel.

Dr. Mangot’s pilot program, “Protect Our House,” helps high school and college students create safer campuses; Mr. Quvus is the program’s co-chair.

Mr. Torell will provide an hour-long interactive video session on personal safety measures, and Mr. Allen will offer skills training using Krav Maga techniques. “While one three-hour primer cannot offer all the skills needed to become a Krav Maga master, we hope this free program will encourage students of all ages to learn to make observations and be aware of what they can do in the event of a threat to their safety,” Dr. Mangot said.

He hopes that students will come away from the program with a sense of empowerment. “Students in all settings are the ones who are responsible for reading and assessing dangerous situations. The goal is to increase self-confidence and allay fear and discomfort.”

Even after they have completed the program, students should call campus security or 911 in an emergency, but Dr. Mangot believes that they can use the knowledge and skills they will learn throughout their lives.

“Protect Our House is designed to give Jewish students, and others who want to join, the chance to learn to handle any challenging situation they might find themselves in,” Mr. Quvus said. “The program’s aim is to create a stronger, safer community together.”

What: Protect Our House

When: Monday, August 12, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Where: Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly

How much: Free

For more information: Email Jon Mangot at protectoh18@gmail.com