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Emergency Guidelines for Supporting Students and Employees Affected by the Middle East Crisis
Background and Purpose
The United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, strikes that have already claimed countless lives and are expected to continue for weeks, if not months, with the full humanitarian toll still unknown. Iran has also launched retaliatory attacks across the region, further escalating the conflict and increasing the risk of broader regional violence.
This is an acute, unfolding crisis, not a distant geopolitical abstraction. For Iranian American students and employees, as well as others with ties to the region, this is deeply personal. They may have family members in active conflict zones right now. They may be unable to reach loved ones. They may be watching their homeland bombed in real time on their phones between classes or meetings. The grief, fear, and trauma this produces is immediate and profound. Affected students and employees may face hostility or bias, including anti-Iranian sentiment, Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias, or other forms of discrimination, regardless of their political or religious views.
At the same time, Jewish American students and employees carry their own complex emotions, anxiety about escalation, grief, moral conflict, or fear of retaliatory antisemitic violence. Many Jews also have family members in active conflict zones right now and are deeply concerned about their safety and wellbeing.
Both realities deserve acknowledgment.
Institutions cannot afford to wait. The time to act is now.
For Schools
Act Today, Not Next Week
School leaders should consider issuing a statement today. Not a carefully worded communication that takes three days to clear legal review, but a human statement that says clearly: we know what is happening, we know some of you are directly affected, and you are safe and supported here. Affected students who do not hear from their school during an active bombing campaign on their home country will remember that silence.
Activate Counselors Immediately
This is not a moment to be passively available. School counselors should be proactively reaching out to affected students and parents, individually where possible, to check in. Not to pry, but to make contact and open the door.
The same outreach should be extended to Jewish students and parents who may be processing complicated emotions about the strikes.
Counselors should be briefed today on the cultural and emotional dimensions of this crisis, recognizing that many communities may be affected in different ways. Iranian families in the U.S., including those who fled the Islamic Republic, may experience deeply conflicted emotions about the death of the Supreme Leader and the bombing of Iran, grief for a homeland and relief at the weakening of a regime are not mutually exclusive.
At the same time, students from Iranian, Middle Eastern, Muslim, Jewish, and other communities may be experiencing fear, anger, grief, or anxiety as events unfold. Students holding complex or conflicting feelings need support, thoughtful listening, and care, not simplistic framing.
Suspend Normal Academic Expectations Temporarily
This is an emergency. Deadlines, tests, and academic pressures should be treated with immediate flexibility for affected students. Teachers should be instructed today that affected students, and any student visibly struggling with the news, should be accommodated without being required to explain themselves publicly. A quiet conversation with a teacher or counselor should be sufficient to trigger support.
Address the Classroom Environment Directly
Current events will enter classrooms whether teachers invite them or not. Educators need immediate guidance on how to handle this. The goal is not to debate the military strikes or assign blame, but to acknowledge that some students in the room may be experiencing something close to wartime trauma right now, and that the classroom must be a place of safety for them. Educators should discourage inflammatory commentary from other students and intervene immediately if students are subjected to hostility, blame, or harassment.
Protect Students From Harassment and Scapegoating
History has shown that in the aftermath of military conflict, communities sometimes direct hostility toward people who share the nationality, ethnicities or religions or a country we are at war with.
After September 11th, Muslim and Arab American students faced Islamophobia, harassment, bullying, and exclusion in schools across the country. After the October 7th Hamas attack and Israel’s response, students of Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Jewish, and Israeli backgrounds all experienced surges in harassment and fear on school campuses and in classrooms. We are likely entering another such moment.
Schools must get ahead of it because once a student is bullied in a hallway, excluded at lunch, or targeted on social media, the damage to their sense of safety and belonging is already done.
A clear, immediate communication to students and parents that harassment of students will not be tolerated, and will result in real consequences, should go out today alongside the statement of support.
Address Immigration and Visa Anxiety Immediately
For Iranian and other Middle Eastern students on visas or with undocumented family members, a military conflict between the US and Iran raises immediate fears about their status, their safety, and whether they can remain in the country. Schools should connect these students with immigration legal resources today and communicate clearly what protections exist. No student should be sitting in a classroom wondering if they are about to be detained or deported and feeling they have no one to ask.
For Employers
Leadership Must Speak Today
CEOs, presidents, and senior leaders should communicate directly to their organizations today. The message should be unambiguous: we are aware of what is happening, we see that members of our community may be personally affected, and we are committed to their safety and wellbeing in this workplace.
Employees with ties to Iran or the broader region may be experiencing grief, fear for loved ones, or anxiety as events unfold. Others, including Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Israeli, and many others, may be navigating complex emotions, including concern for family and community members, fear of backlash, or moral conflict about the violence.
Leadership communication should acknowledge these realities and make clear that every member of the community deserves respect, care, and protection from hostility or discrimination.
Grant Immediate Flexibility Without Requiring Explanation
Managers should be instructed today to offer employees visibly affected by the crisis, immediate flexibility. This means working from home, stepping away when needed, adjusting deadlines, or taking time off without bureaucratic hurdles. An employee who learned overnight that their family’s city is being bombed should not be expected to perform normally. Do not make them ask twice or justify themselves in detail.
Activate Employee Assistance Programs and Communicate Them Loudly
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services should be communicated immediately and prominently via email and Slack, and posted in common areas. The communication should name the crisis directly: “We know many of you are following the situation in the Middle East with fear and grief. Our EAP is available now, it is free, and it is confidential.” Generic wellness reminders will not cut through during an acute crisis. Name what is happening.
Protect Employees From Workplace Hostility
History has shown that in the aftermath of military conflict, workplaces are not immune to the hostility that surfaces in the broader culture. After September 11th, Muslim and Arab American employees faced Islamophobia, discrimination, isolation, and in some cases termination. After the October 7th Hamas attack and Israel’s response, employees of Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Jewish, and Israeli backgrounds reported harassment, hostile work environments, and professional retaliation for their perceived views. We are likely entering another such moment, and employers must get ahead of it because once an employee is targeted in a meeting, excluded by colleagues, or subjected to hostile commentary, the damage to their psychological safety and professional standing is already done.
HR and legal teams should therefore issue immediate guidance reminding all employees that discrimination, harassment, or hostile commentary directed at colleagues based on national origin, religion, ethnicity, or perceived political views is prohibited and will result in disciplinary action. This should not wait for an incident to occur. The current moment carries real risk of workplace xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti-Arab bias, anti-Iranian sentiment and other forms of identity-based hostility affecting employees from a wide range of backgrounds.
A proactive, unambiguous statement from HR, issued now, before anything happens, sends a message to every employee that this workplace will not become a place where war abroad becomes a license to target colleagues at home.
Manage Travel and Immigration Complications Urgently
Employees with visa complications, travel restrictions, or family members attempting to flee a country may face immediate practical crises on top of emotional ones. HR departments should identify affected employees today and reach out proactively. Any organizational travel requirements that conflict with an employee’s immigration situation should be reconsidered immediately. Legal counsel or immigration attorney referrals should be made available without delay.
Create Space for Grief That Defies Easy Categories
Employers should understand that affected employees may be holding extraordinarily complex emotions right now, grief for a country being bombed, possible relief at the death of a leader many Iranian Americans despised, fear for family, anger, disorientation, and exhaustion. These emotions do not fit neatly into categories, and employees should never feel they need to perform the “right” kind of grief to receive support.
The workplace should be a space where people can be human without judgment.
A Note on Coexistence During Active Conflict
When nations are at war, institutions face pressure, sometimes subtle, sometimes explicit, to take sides, to treat communities as proxies for their governments, or to rank whose pain matters more. Schools and employers must resist this entirely.
Iranian students and employees are not the Iranian government. Jewish students and employees are not the Israeli government. No student or employee should be treated as a proxy for any government’s actions. Our communities are made up of human beings navigating fear, grief, and uncertainty in real time.
The most important thing an institution can do right now is make clear, through words and through action, that every person in their community belongs, that national origin, ethnicity, and religion will never determine whether someone is treated with dignity. In a moment of war, that commitment is not a platitude. It is an act of moral leadership.
These are emergency guidelines intended for immediate implementation. They have been revised today (dated 3/4/26) from the original version (dated 3/1/26), which focused primarily on Iranian and Jewish communities, based on feedback received to better reflect the broader range of communities affected. The guidelines should be revisited and updated as the situation develops. Institutions are encouraged to consult with relevant internal community organizations, including Iranian, Jewish, and other affected groups, as well as mental health professionals with appropriate cultural expertise, as they respond.