INTRODUCTION Antisemitism on U.S. College & University Campuses has reached a crescendo. A place where students come to learn and explore new ideas has been replaced with breeding grounds for Jew-hatred. Violence and harassment have become common place with students fearing for their safety if they are visibly Jewish or openly support the State of Israel. StopAntisemitism, a national watchdog organization dedicated to proactively exposing antisemites and holding them accountable for their antisemitic behavior, has received an influx of requests from Jewish students and their parents asking for guidance about where they can feel safe attending college. In response, StopAntisemitism created this report to gage antisemitic climates at colleges and universities. StopAntisemitism analyzed and graded 25 higher education institutions across the United States. Discrimination targeting Jewish students for their religious identity or for their support of the Jewish State of Israel is not taken as seriously as discriminatory acts against other marginalized groups. As America continues to contend with racial reckoning, many, if not all, schools have created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) department to promote anti-racist positions and effect positive social change. But all too often, Jews, who are grossly mislabeled as a “white, model-minority,” are excluded from the DEI discussion. DEI departments have not made fighting antisemitism a priority and few adopted or are even willing to consider the IHRA working definition of antisemitism when dealing with antisemitism on campus. In a survey conducted by StopAntisemitism assessing the state of antisemitism in American higher education taken by Jewish college students across the country, 55% of respondents replied “yes” to experiencing antisemitism on campus. Half of these victims said that they didnʼt report the incidents, and about a third of those that did report it said that they were ignored by college administrators or told that there was no resolution. More alarming is that only 28% of the respondents said their school administration takes antisemitism and the protection of Jewish students seriously. It has become clear that the DEI approach on university campuses has failed to combat bigotry against their Jewish communities, often brushing it off as a freedom of speech issue. 1
Antisemitism on U.S. Campuses | 2022 Report Page 1 Page 3