New Report Card to Assess, Rank Campus Responses to Antisemitism
In developing and implementing the report card, ADL will be leveraging its extensive partnerships with campus-based Jewish student organizations with the goal of building on the existing resources provided to Jewish high school students and their families through the Hillel International College Guide. Many other organizations will also be involved, especially those that work directly with students. A recent ADL/Hillel International survey of American college students found that a majority of all students – Jewish and non-Jewish – feel that their campus administration has not done enough to address anti-Jewish prejudice on campus. The same survey found that a plurality of Jewish students does not feel physically safe on campus.
“Students, parents, and other stakeholders need standard reporting and objective information to see how universities respond to antisemitism, said Jacob Baime, CEO of the Israel on Campus Coalition. “We welcome ADL’s contribution to this critical goal.”
“We are pleased ADL is developing a new tool for students and their families to understand the state of antisemitism on American campuses,” said Julia Jassey, Chief Executive Officer of Jewish on Campus. “We must have strong university partners to do this work, and this tool will help us gauge how those partners are measuring up.”
Beyond students, the guide also will offer insight to parents, guidance counselors, admissions consultants, concerned alumni and others to understand what is happening on campuses and to compare how schools are responding. Between Oct. 7, 2023 and Jan. 7, ADL recorded a shocking 505 antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses. This rise in campus antisemitism is part of the highest increase in antisemitic incidents that ADL has ever recorded.
In a collaborative statement from the Jewish and Jewish Heritage Greek organizations: Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Delta Tau, and Zeta Beta Tau, Bonnie Wunsch, Executive Director of Alpha Epsilon Phi said, “We welcome ADL’s new report card to assess the state of antisemitism on campus. This tool will provide critical information to answer the questions we are regularly fielding from students and their families. Not only is the moment for this now, but ADL is the right organization to do it.”
Emma Law-Oppman and Eden Weisberg for M.A.C.A. and Our Voices Rise issued a joint statement about ADL’s plans: “Parents and students want to make informed decisions; they want as complete a picture of campus life as possible. While decisions should not be made on any singular criteria, issues concerning safety, security, and mental health of Jewish students cannot be minimized. We are grateful that ADL has recognized this need and is creating a data driven tool to give parents and students insight into these very pressing issues.”
In November, ADL, Hillel International, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Gibson and Dunn & Crutcher LLP, announced a free legal protection helpline for students who have experienced antisemitism. Since it was launched, more than 400 incidents from across 175 campuses have been reported via the helpline.
