EXTREMISMNew Resource Hub & Confidential Reporting Channel for Classroom-Based Antisemitism
A new initiative designed to help colleges and universities address antisemitism where it increasingly takes root: inside classrooms, faculty governance and organized academic networks.
ADL’s (the Anti-Defamation League) Center to Combat Antisemitism in Education, with support from the ADL Center on Extremism, today launched “When Antisemitism Comes to Class,” a new initiative designed to help colleges and universities address antisemitism where it increasingly takes root: inside classrooms, faculty governance and organized academic networks. The initiative includes two new research reports, practical guidance for higher education leaders and the launch of the Campus Classroom Reporting (CCR) mechanism — a confidential reporting and support channel for students, faculty and staff facing antisemitism in classrooms and curricula.
ADL’s new report, “Antisemitism Among Faculty and in the Classroom: Trends, Patterns and Institutional Dynamics,” examines how faculty conduct, curricular framing and academic governance structures are shaping the experience of Jewish and Israeli students, staff and faculty on college campuses. Beyond the headlines about student protests and encampments, this new research points to less visible institutional and faculty dynamics that may be having a very significant impact on campus climate.
“Antisemitism doesn’t only show up in a student protest chant or an encampment, it can show up in a syllabus, a lecture, a seemingly innocuous remark or a coordinated network of professors organizing against Israel’s existence,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Because classrooms and faculty organizing spaces are largely invisible to those outside the institution, this problem has been allowed to fester with far less scrutiny than it warrants. Universities cannot claim to be addressing antisemitism seriously if they ignore what happens behind the classroom door and inside faculty governance.”
Key findings from the report include recurring patterns such as:
● One-sided framing that blurs education with advocacy, including course descriptions and syllabi at institutions such as Stanford, Princeton, Northwestern and UC Berkeley that present contested political claims about Israel and Zionism as settled fact.
● The introduction of pro-terrorism narratives into coursework, including assigned readings by leaders of designated terrorist organizations such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and faculty commentary expressing support for or celebration of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
● Academic incentives that pressure students to conform, such as extra credit for attending anti-Israel walkouts and rallies, and canceled classes in favor of protest participation.
● The singling out of Jewish and Israeli students in classroom settings, including being asked to answer for Israeli government policy or being labeled an “occupier” or “murderer” because of national origin or military service.
