Latest News from Campus

Maryland Hillel organized a graduation ceremony for more than 70 Jewish seniors and their families after the University of Maryland postponed commencement to the first night of Shavuot. In a matter of hours, Hillel staff organized a ceremony with a processional, music, speeches, and name readings. Across the country, Hillels also hosted Jewish baccalaureates, L’Chaim celebrations, and other commencement events for graduating seniors at campuses including Duke University, the University of Florida, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The U.S. Justice Department filed a third lawsuit against UCLA alleging the university has shown it is “deliberately indifferent” to antisemitic harassment of Jewish and Israeli students following the October 7, 2023 attacks and subsequent campus protests. The suit focuses on incidents tied to a 2024 anti-Israel encampment and alleges the university failed to adequately respond to reports of harassment. In response, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk cited actions the university has taken to confront antisemitism this past year, saying, “The suggestion that UCLA has been passive in the face of antisemitism is simply wrong.”

Police arrested a suspect connected to a months-long series of antisemitic and racist graffiti incidents at San José State University. The messages targeted Jewish, Muslim, Black, and Asian students and included threats of violence, swastikas, and references to terrorism. University officials say the investigation involved campus police, local law enforcement, and the FBI. The suspect faces counts of felony vandalism, felony publishing threats, and potential hate crime enhancements.

Three Hadar Institute rabbis will begin work at Rutgers University, New York University, and UMass Amherst starting this summer as part of a campus expansion initiative. The rabbis, who will be embedded with campus Hillels, will engage in leading Jewish learning, prayer, and student programming. Hadar says the partnership aims to deepen pluralistic Jewish life and increase access to Torah learning for Jewish college students of all observance levels.

Jewish leaders and college students gathered in Washington, D.C. for a two-day advocacy fly-in focused on strengthening security for the Jewish community. Hosted by the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), participants met with members of Congress to advocate for federal legislation connected to JFNA’s Six Point Security Agenda. Through Hillel International’s Leadership Passport program, Jewish student leaders joined the fly-in to raise concerns about campus safety and bring student perspectives into national policy conversations.

Senators Jacky Rosen and James Lankford recently introduced the Jewish American Security Act, a bipartisan bill focused on combating antisemitism across multiple sectors, including on college campuses, online, and at Jewish institutions. The legislation would increase federal security funding for Jewish communities, require new federal strategies to address antisemitism on college campuses, and push social media platforms to provide more transparency reporting on how they moderate and limit antisemitic content. Jewish organizations across the political and denominational spectrums have publicly backed the proposal.