EXTREMISMReport Exposes Systemic Failures to Protect Jewish Members Across 20 Academic Organizations

ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today released “The State of Antisemitism in Professional Academic Associations,” the first ever comprehensive, data-driven assessment examining how antisemitism is manifesting within 20 major U.S.-based professional academic associations and how these organizations are responding.

The report, conducted by ADL’s Ratings and Assessments Institute (RAI), reveals alarming patterns of marginalization, leadership failures, and systematic exclusion of Jewish members from their professional communities and academic homes.

“Antisemitic biases in professional academic associations are widespread and reveal a problem that goes far beyond traditional scholarly circles,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “When antisemitism and biased anti-Israel narratives are normalized within these influential spaces, they seep into curricula, research, and public discourse, quietly but profoundly shaping how students and future professionals interpret the world. By assessing these associations and how they are responding, we are delineating a path forward to ensure that academic spaces remain intellectually rigorous, inclusive and free of antisemitism, and accountable to the public they serve.”

The report documents how professional academic associations—influential organizations that influence academic culture, publish research, provide professional development, and shape the educators responsible for teaching future generations —have allowed antisemitism to flourish unchecked.

The report identifies common patterns of antisemitism, including:

·  Climate of marginalization and risk: Jewish members report feeling unsafe at conferences, being marginalized during professional sessions, and being subjected to antisemitic content through official association channels;
·  Leadership failures: Few association leaders have demonstrated strength in combating antisemitism, with many wilting under criticism or actively enabling antisemitic rhetoric;
·  Double standards: Associations that historically spoke out against other forms of discrimination have failed to respond with equal seriousness to antisemitism.

Other key findings in from ADL’s Sept. 2025 research on associations show that:

·  42 percent of surveyed Jewish faculty members who are members of associations report feeling unwelcome because they are Jewish or perceived as Zionist;
·  25 percent report feeling the need to hide their Jewish or Zionist identity from others - (e.g., choosing not to mention they are Jewish, abstaining from wearing visibly Jewish apparel, not speaking Hebrew, not speaking about Jewish or Israel-related topics, etc.) - in their association; 
·  45 percent report being told by others in their associations what is and is not antisemitism.

The Faculty Connection
The report highlights a critical concern: faculty members who advocate for anti-Zionist positions -a rejection of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state- within these professional academic associations are often the same individuals responsible for educating students in classrooms nationwide. This creates a direct pipeline for antisemitic attitudes and anti-Israel messaging to infiltrate higher education at the instructional level.

“Professional academic associations are supposed to be spaces where scholars advance knowledge and support each other’s professional development,” said Shira Goodman, ADL Vice President of Advocacy. “Instead, we’re seeing these organizations become vehicles for excluding and marginalizing Jewish members. When ADL issued a best-practices guide for associations, they neither complied nor responded to ADL’s requests for information. Unlike colleges, most associations have failed to take the fight against antisemitism seriously. This needs to change if we want to disrupt the exclusionary trends we’ve tracked in academia in the past two years.”

“These associations don’t exist in a vacuum,” said Danny Barefoot, Senior Director of the ADL Ratings and Assessments Institute. “When faculty members normalize antisemitism in their professional organizations, they inevitably bring those attitudes into their teaching and mentoring relationships with students. Without change, these associations will continue to violate core values of academic culture, ultimately rendering our next generation increasingly unable to examine evidence, think analytically, and be open to diverse ideas.”

Call for Reform
The report includes best practices from associations that are successfully preventing the proliferation of antisemitism within their organizations, including efforts such as dedicated campaigns to promote respect, robust anti-harassment policies, and policies designed to prevent an association from deviating from its stated mission. The report concludes with actionable strategies for members seeking to advocate for change within their associations, as well as a checklist of concrete steps association leaders can take – including establishing and upholding clear non-discrimination and conduct policies - to prevent and respond to antisemitism appropriately.

This report is part of ADL’s broader effort through RAI to hold institutions accountable across multiple sectors. In 2025, RAI has conducted six critical projects including campus and K-12 assessments, corporate scorecards, and evaluations of bias in artificial intelligence systems.

ADL is ready to partner with association leaders in supporting reform efforts and ensuring that professional academic organizations serve as inclusive spaces where all members, including Jewish and Zionist members, feel respected, protected, and able to contribute freely.

The full report is available at on the ADL website.

The article is published courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).