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From the Desk of Adam Lehman: Building on Record Engagement and Increasing Jewish Belonging on Campus

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Date

February 4, 2025

Friends,

With the new semester underway, our Hillel teams are building on momentum from the fall term to advance our core work in creating thriving Jewish life on campus, while continuing to forcefully address the issues of antisemitism and hostile campus environments that can undermine the ability of Jewish students to fully express their identities.

On the “joy before oy” side of the equation, we are on pace for yet another new record in overall student engagement and participation through Hillel this school year. Here are just a few examples of the incredibly diverse array of programs, experiences, and relationships fueling this growth:

Even as we continue to invest in the talented professionals, unique Jewish experiences, and leadership development opportunities that engage, inspire, and empower Jewish students through Hillel, we also remain focused on improving the underlying conditions required for Jewish students to safely and fully engage in Jewish life and learning.

As a broader Jewish community, we can be proud of the progress we’ve made during the past year in catalyzing meaningful change in the ways universities address antisemitism. Many university partners are responding more quickly, aggressively, and effectively to address issues as they arise, including through more active enforcement of university policies and codes of conduct.

These changes have translated into a significant drop in the number of mass campus disruptions that sparked many issues of harassment and intimidation during the prior academic year. Even so, we continue to see a historically high level of problematic incidents targeting Jewish students, Jewish student organizations like Hillel, and Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff. In our just-released survey we conducted with ADL and College Pulse , more than 83% of Jewish students said they have witnessed or experienced antisemitism on campus since Oct. 7, 2023. In this challenged campus environment, more than 40% feel the need to hide their Jewish identity, an enormously problematic indicator of the breadth of issues Jewish students are reporting.

These numbers are more than statistics. They reflect the lived experiences of a large number of Jewish students who are being marginalized, excluded, and subjected to other forms of bias and discrimination. You can read more about the study and how we’re responding in this op-ed I co-authored with the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt.

In the face of these issues, we are continuing to invest in a multitude of resources and strategies to better equip Jewish students to confront these challenges, to promote their resilience, and to change the underlying campus conditions. In the fall, we launched Campus4All.org , a resource to educate and empower students to respond when faced with harassment or discrimination. More than 160,000 people have already taken advantage of Campus for All, and we’ll be continuing to add to the content and resources it offers students. Our Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), operated in partnership with ADL, The Brandeis Center, and law firm Gibson Dunn, provides free legal support from some of the nation’s top law firms to ensure that every Jewish student facing unlawful discrimination has legal recourse.

We’ve grown our Campus Climate Initiative to 100 participating universities, educating and training their administrators on the nature of contemporary antisemitism, facilitating policy-level changes to improve the way they respond to Jewish student issues, and ensuring their accountability in delivering on these improvements. We’re also adding new “Community Impact” professionals to Hillel teams at select campuses to serve as dedicated advocates for Jewish students and channel the efforts of aligned partners, faculty, alumni, and administrators in driving positive change. Finally, we continue to invest in the core Jewish education, engagement, and community building experiences that motivate and equip students to express their Jewish identities with joy, pride and confidence.

This past week’s Torah portion, Parshat Bo, bridges from the tragedy of our people’s enslavement in Egypt to the triumph of the Exodus. We too are living through times of tragedy and triumph, including the miracle of the growing group of hostages finally being released from their captivity over the past two weeks. Through it all, at Hillel we remain resolute in our mission, and confident in our capacity to inspire the next generation of Jewish leaders who will bring light to the Jewish people and broader world. Thanks for everything each of you does in support of our work and mission.

B’shalom,
Adam