WHEN CENSORSHIP IS THE TACTIC, WHO IS THREATENED BY THE QUESTIONS, AND WHY?

Posted August 31, 2026

In EDUCATION K-12 AND HIGHER EDUCATION, LEADERSHIP

I am writing this for two reasons.

First, I am a member of MACA [MOTHERS AGAINST COLLEGE ANTISEMTISM] and have benefited tremendously from this community. It connected Jewish parents, helped families navigate antisemitism on college campuses, and gave many of us a place to exchange information and speak up.

Second, because of the dispute between MACA founder Elizabeth Rand and the board of the MACA Foundation, I began asking questions.

Some of those questions and a recent post were removed from the MACA Facebook group.

That concerns me.

But I want to make something equally clear:

I do not know all the facts surrounding this dispute. I do not have access to all the agreements, bylaws, minutes, communications, financial records, or other documents that may ultimately answer these questions.

That is precisely why I am asking questions.

This post is not about declaring who is right or wrong.

It is about asking for transparency before reaching conclusions.

WHAT WE KNOW FROM PUBLIC REPORTING

eJewishPhilanthropy has reported on the increasingly contentious dispute between Rand and the MACA Foundation board.

According to its reporting, Rand created the Mothers Against College Antisemitism Facebook group shortly after October 7, 2023. The group grew extraordinarily quickly, reaching more than 42,000 members in less than a month and approximately 60,000 within a year.

The community became much more than a Facebook page. Parents shared information, supported Jewish students, contacted universities, organized advocacy, and connected with other families confronting antisemitism.

A nonprofit organization subsequently emerged from this movement.
Rand later resigned as president of the MACA Foundation board in November 2025.
Today, the parties disagree over control of the Facebook group.
The Foundation board maintains that the Facebook group is an asset of the nonprofit and that the board has a fiduciary obligation to protect it.
Rand maintains that she created the group before the Foundation existed and did not transfer ownership of it to the nonprofit.

That dispute is now being litigated. I am not in possession of enough information to determine who is legally correct.

But as a MACA member, I believe we are entitled to ask how these competing claims are supported.

SO I POSTED AND ASKED QUESTIONS. AND MY POST WAS REMVOED.

Was the Facebook group ever formally transferred to the MACA Foundation?
Was there an assignment?
Was there a written agreement?
Was there a board resolution?
Was the Facebook group identified as a Foundation asset when the nonprofit was established?
If documentation establishes the Foundation’s ownership, make it available.

And then there are questions about the board itself.

Who were the original directors?
How were they selected?
How were subsequent directors appointed or elected?
What do the MACA Foundation bylaws say about directors’ terms?
When do those terms expire?
What do the bylaws require regarding the election or appointment of board members?
Who has voting rights, if anyone?
When is the next board election?
Were the current directors selected according to the bylaws?
Have the bylaws been amended?
If so, when, by whom, and under what authority?
Where are the minutes documenting these decisions?

These questions are intended to understand the situation from the perspective of the member of the MACA Facebook group. They are questions, but I guess they somewhat threatened the board members, who are now co-administering the page.

I previously served as president of the Del Mar Seacoast Republican Women Club during a period following its separation from the National Federation of Republican Women. That experience reinforced something important for me: when organizations experience disagreement or transition, governing documents, procedures, elections, minutes, and transparency matter.

A nonprofit does not simply belong to the individuals occupying its board seats.
Directors are entrusted with stewardship and fiduciary responsibilities.
Their authority comes with obligations.
That is why removing questions rather than answering them concerns me.
And asking for bylaws, minutes, elections, and documentation should not be interpreted as an attack on MACA or its mission.

I remain grateful for what this community has accomplished. The work combating campus antisemitism matters. But doing important work does not place any organization, including organizations we support, beyond scrutiny.

In fact, I believe the opposite should be true.

**If we demand transparency from universities, we should practice transparency ourselves. **If we demand accountability from university administrators, we should welcome accountability from our own members.

If we encourage Jewish students to ask difficult questions, we should not silence Jewish parents for doing the same.

So I am NOT asking anyone to choose between Elizabeth Rand and the MACA Foundation board.

I am asking something much simpler:

**SHOW US THE DOCUMENTS. **

Show the basis for the competing ownership claims.
Show the bylaws.
Show how the current directors obtained their positions.
Show the terms of office.
Show the elections or appointments.
Show the relevant minutes.

Tell members whether they have voting rights and, if so, when and how they can exercise them. Then allow people to examine the evidence and reach their own conclusions.

Questions are not disloyalty.
Questions are not attacks.
Questions are how we get to the truth.

Leadership is not ownership. Leadership is stewardship.

And stewardship requires transparency, integrity, and accountability.

CALL TO ACTION

If you are a MACA member and believe members should be able to ask these questions, please share this post and the accompanying ARTICLES:

Let us ask questions before choosing sides. This is an opportunity to serve our community, strengthen our shared future, and contribute to something larger than ourselves.

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