Latest News from Campus

Columbia University reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by Jewish students who alleged the school failed to address rising antisemitism on campus. The complaint claimed, in part, that the university did not adequately protect Jewish and Israeli students as incidents escalated in the aftermath of the October 7 terror attacks. As a result of the settlement, Columbia committed to expanding antisemitism-related programming, creating new Israel-related scholarships, and considering adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

A recent event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, hosted by the college’s Muslim Student Association, featured a speaker who has shared posts online promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. Sheikh Abdelrahman Badawy circulated videos and posts in the past several weeks containing anti-Jewish conspiracies and mocking the Holocaust.

University of Chicago student and Hillel student leader Jake Rymer was instrumental in the Chicago City Council’s recent adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.  The council voted to include the definition in Chicago’s municipal code, creating a clearer framework for identifying antisemitic discrimination. Chicago is the second-largest city in the United States to codify the IHRA definition of antisemitism, after Los Angeles.

Police are investigating a reported hate crime targeting the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi at California Polytechnic State University. According to university officials, a group of men drove by the fraternity house, shouted antisemitic slurs, entered the property, and one suspect punched a resident during a confrontation before fleeing. The San Luis Obispo Police Department is working to identify the suspects as the investigation continues. Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong said in a message to students and faculty that “hateful acts that target members of our Jewish community are hurtful, disgusting and simply unacceptable,” adding that antisemitism “has no place at our university.”

The FBI and law enforcement are working with Stanford University to conduct an investigation after antisemitic emails targeted members of the Jewish community, including students involved with Hillel. An anonymous group claiming to be Stanford alumni sent the messages, which included conspiracy theories and threats against Jewish students. Hillel at Stanford Executive Director and Senior Rabbi Jessica Kirschner encouraged students to combat hate by being “proudly, deeply Jewish” and continuing to build Jewish community on campus.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit against the University of California, accusing UCLA of creating a “hostile work environment” by failing to address antisemitic harassment against Jewish and Israeli faculty and staff after October 2023. In response, a UCLA spokesperson said the university has “taken concrete and significant steps” to combat antisemitism on its campus.