As students prepare to return to college campuses for the fall semester we have been encouraged by reports of numerous colleges and universities that have promised more robust enforcement of existing laws and school rules regarding discrimination, harassment and antisemitism at their institutions.
We are also encouraged by reports of new institutional plans to restrict unauthorized demonstrations and other forms of interference with campus life that victimized Jewish and pro-Israel students at several university campuses this past year.
Opinions vary over the sincerity of the promises of enforcement. For example, questions have been raised by congressional committees that are investigating the universities for not cracking down on antisemitic activity on campus. Other questions have been raised through lawsuits filed against universities on behalf of students who have been victimized.
And many Jewish students doubt they will see a significant change in the confrontational atmosphere they experienced last semester and continue to feel uneasy about mounting antisemitism on their campuses.
Those concerns are well-founded. A new study by Brandeis University researchers who surveyed almost 4,000 non-Jewish college students on 60 campuses around the country found that about 33% of them embraced ideas that are hostile to Jews or the state of Israel during the 2023-24 academic year.
The numbers are disturbing. About 20% of non-Jewish students believe Israel has no right to exist. Almost 25% said they do not want to be friends with people who support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Sixteen percent said that Jews have too much power in America. And 43% believe that supporters of Israel control the media.
The survey also measured a much smaller sample of more than 300 Jewish students at the 60 schools surveyed. More than 80% of those Jewish students agreed that there is a hostile environment toward Israel on their campus and 60% agreed there is a hostile environment toward Jews on their campus.
While 66% of non-Jewish students surveyed were not hostile to Jews or Israel, we are concerned about the shocking 33% who admitted to being hostile to Jews, Israel or both. This profoundly disturbing statistic supports concerns expressed by Jewish students about the toxic levels of hostility they feel on campus and their fears for their personal safety.
Our colleges and universities are supposed to be institutions of higher education, dedicated to the educational enrichment of their students and to helping develop their citizenship skills. Each of those institutions has rules governing student behavior and a system of review and enforcement under those rules, with punishment ranging from a warning to expulsion — or even a criminal referral.
Antisemitism and Jew hatred are no different than racial bias and discrimination against Black, Asian or Muslim students. Consistent enforcement of the rules regarding discrimination and bias will go a long way toward reducing discriminatory behavior on campus generally and should also help address rising instances of antisemitic activity.
Our colleges and universities have an important responsibility to promote tolerance, understanding and non-discrimination among the various populations on their campuses and to back up their words with concrete action and even-handed enforcement. If they can’t get that done, they will lose government funding, support from their alumni and interest from future applicants.
