(RNS) — After a congressional hearing where university presidents faced criticism for their handling of campus antisemitism, a new survey reveals that Jewish students’ experiences of hostility on U.S. campuses vary from school to school.
The survey conducted by The Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University covered 51 public and private universities and found a small number of “hotspot” schools where Jewish students faced a hostile environment.
“At some schools, the vast majority of Jewish students we surveyed reported that there is a hostile climate toward Jews and Israel on their campus, while at other schools, substantially fewer Jewish students feel this way,” the survey concluded.
The presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania were grilled by lawmakers during last week’s hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee. The issues at hand were concerning accusations that a wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests had frightened and intimidated Jewish students during Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
The U.S. Department of Education has initiated 21 investigations into possible antisemitic or anti-Muslim discrimination at colleges and universities since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. These investigations are focusing on violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.
The survey, which included nearly 2,000 Jewish students at private and public universities, showed that Jewish students at schools such as Columbia, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of California, Berkeley, experienced the most hostility. On the other hand, students at schools such as Duke, Pennsylvania State, the University of Florida, Brandeis, and Tulane experienced far less hostility.
(Report cover for “In the Shadow of War: Hotspots of Antisemitism on US College Campuses,” a study by Brandeis University. Cover courtesy Brandeis University)
The survey is not representative of all Jewish college students since it only sampled students who had applied for a Birthright Israel trip. Birthright is a nonprofit organization that offers Jews a free 10-day heritage trip to Israel starting at age 18. Of the survey respondents, 56% of the students actually participated in the Birthright Israel trip; the others applied but hadn’t taken the trip. Students who apply to Birthright tend to be more invested in their Jewish identity and view Israel more sympathetically.
Students were questioned based on an “index of hostility” that included three questions: the extent to which they agreed that there was a hostile environment toward Jews at their school, the extent to which they agreed that there was a hostile environment toward Israel at their school, and their level of concern about antisemitism on their campus. Read More
