From the Desk of Adam Lehman: Building Stronger Campuses for Jewish Students and All Students
Friends,
As we turn to the spring, the Final Four, Passover, and commencement season; antisemitism on campus remains a focal point, both in terms of aggressive federal government action, and in the news. While we are not experts on immigration law or the many other legal and tactical maneuvers being pursued and debated, what we do have at Hillel is unmatched expertise regarding Jewish life on campus, thanks to our 100-plus years of serving Jewish college students and 1,200 Hillel professionals who work on campus every single day. From that vantage point, I want to share the following observations about the current developments and debates:
First, for those who may be discounting and dismissing campus antisemitism as a real issue, we unfortunately know otherwise. During the past 18 months, Jewish students have been assaulted, harassed, intimidated, and demonized — testing the broader Jewish community’s trust in many colleges and universities. These incidents grew by more than 500% last academic year following the October 7 attack on Israel, reaching their highest levels on record. And, in our most recent survey of Jewish college students conducted in partnership with the ADL, a staggering 83% indicated that they had personally experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident.
While many universities improved their policies and enforcement of those policies this academic year, we have continued to observe and address a historically high rate of issues. We’ve catalogued more than 1,300 discrete incidents of campus antisemitism already this academic year. And to address another common misconception about the nature of discrimination and harassment targeting Jewish and Israeli students, the majority of these are issues of conduct — not speech.
Among those conduct-based incidents, more than 350 involve threats or violence, and more than 200 involve vandalism targeting individual students, Hillel buildings, and other Jewish campus organizations. And, for those who contend that universities are fully capable of addressing campus antisemitism on their own, recent and longer term history indicate otherwise. There are numerous cases from the last 18 months when universities only chose to pursue basic remedial actions such as enforcing their existing codes of conduct after Title VI investigations, lawsuits, or other government action spurred them to do so.
At the same time, for those expressing concerns over how current actions — such as deportations and withholding of grants for university research — are being implemented, we understand those concerns. For the benefit of Jewish students and all students, we believe it is essential that students, faculty, and staff violating laws and campus codes of conduct be held accountable for those destructive actions. At the same time, we also believe that due process for those accused of wrongdoing is essential — whether through mandated protections in legal settings or consistent, fair, and responsive disciplinary procedures at the university level.
We also share concerns over ways in which actions to combat campus antisemitism can inadvertently fuel further antisemitism, by feeding into longstanding tropes about outsized Jewish influence, and leading some people to unfairly hold Jewish students and faculty responsible for actions such as the withholding of significant research grants.
Addressing discriminatory beliefs, practices, and actions on campus requires a sustained and multi-faceted approach; and while legal actions have a role to play, they are by no means a cure-all. In order to fundamentally change campus cultures, we must improve the way administrators, staff, and students understand contemporary antisemitism; strengthen university policies and practices that protect the safety and basic rights of students to express their identities without fear; and promote the capacities of students, staff, and faculty to engage in constructive dialogue across difference. Leveraging our unique position and relationships on campus, we are aggressively working to execute on all of these strategies.
Finally, we know from our 101-year history that investing in vibrant Jewish student communities that educate, inspire, and grow the resilience of Jewish students is one of the most critical drivers for ensuring their overall well-being and positive campus experiences. Our work fostering Jewish joy, pride, learning, and leadership has elevated Jewish student experience in good times and bad, and on campuses that remain welcoming and supportive of Jewish students as well as those presenting ongoing challenges.
As we approach the start of Passover, a season often described as Z’man Heruteinu, the season of freedom, we are reminded of both the unparalleled resilience of the Jewish people over the course of millennia and the values that have sustained us. Those values will continue to fuel our work at Hillel inspiring resilience, connection, and leadership for the next generation.
Happy Passover – Chag Pesach Sameach,
Adam Lehman
President and CEO of Hillel International