The Envoy

At 4:36 a.m. Feb.26, a caller using a blocked number left Doron Friedman a voicemail containing an antisemitic slur.

Doron Friedman, a doctoral lecturer and coordinator of the Hebrew language department at Hunter College, said he believes the caller intended to reach another Hunter professor with the same last name. 

In the message, the caller said it was “probably the wrong number” before telling Friedman to “tell this kike to stay in her place.”

Hunter College recently placed Professor Allyson Friedman on leave after she made offensive comments about Black students during a communication meeting last month. 

Doron Friedman said the caller may have searched the Hunter faculty directory and contacted the wrong person because several faculty members share the same last name.

The voicemail came from a blocked number that displayed as “000,” Doron Friedman said, suggesting that the caller may have used a burner phone. 

He immediately reported the incident to university officials.

Doron Friedman said Hunter administrators responded seriously and encouraged him to file a complaint with the NYPD. A lieutenant from the college accompanied him to the police station to file the report, he said.

The police department declined the complaint because the caller stated they “probably got the wrong number,” leaving Doron Friedman without legal standing. 

Officers instructed Friedman that the intended recipient must file the complaint. 

Hunter officials documented the incident and assigned it a registration number through the college’s bias reporting process, Doron Friedman said. 

As of March 9, Doron Friedman has not received any updates on the case. 

Despite the incident, Doron Friedman said the voicemail has not changed the way he lives his life.

“For me, it didn’t change anything,” he said. “I’m still doing my stuff as usual.”

He added that these experiences with discrimination are not unique to any one group. 

“It’s another racial incident most of us experience not only Jews, but people of all races,” Doron Friedman said. 

Students in Doron Friedman’s Hebrew Language class met the news with a range of reactions. While some expressed concern, others responded more lightly, a difference he attributed to their racial backgrounds and age. 

Doron Friedman is using the incident to encourage his students to report campus discrimination and bias.

“I tell them if they see something regarding slurs or racism, they should let me know so I can report it,” Doron Friedman said.

For Doron Friedman, moments like the voicemail have opened the doors for broader conversations about hate speech and how communities like college campuses respond to it.

“Having assemblies where we inform students on how to respond to incidents like these would be great,” Doron Friedman said. 

According to New York City’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, people should report biased incidents even if the harassment is verbal and does not include a physical threat. Victims or witnesses can call 311 or file a bias incident with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. 

More information about reporting hate crimes and bias incidents is available here.