Latest News from Campus

A letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce accuses the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) union of promoting antisemitism at MIT, Stanford, and Cornell. The letter alleges the union created a hostile environment for Jewish graduate students by forcing them to pay dues that fund the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Additionally, it claims the union denied religious accommodations to students who requested not to pay these dues.

The FBI released its 2024 hate crime statistics revealing that Jewish people were targeted in 70% of all religious-based hate crimes — a significant increase from 62% in 2023. Hate crimes against Jews constituted 16% of all reported hate crime offenses, including incidents of assault, vandalism, and harassment. On average, there were more than five anti-Jewish hate crimes per day in 2024.

Florida State University suspended a graduate student and banned her from campus after a video circulated on X of her yelling at and shoving a Jewish student for wearing an IDF t-shirt to the gym. The Florida State University Police Department conducted interviews of the students involved and is assessing whether or not to charge the graduate student with criminal charges for violating the FSU code of conduct.

A Jewish graduate student filed a federal Title VI complaint against Stanford, alleging the university failed to address persistent antisemitic harassment and hostility within her PhD program. The complaint claims Stanford allowed exclusionary academic environments that led her to leave the program. It urges federal intervention to ensure better protections for Jewish students.

Harvard University announced that it will provide funding to cover the costs of security at Harvard Hillel ahead of the new school year. “By taking on responsibility for security at Hillel, Harvard University is making a powerful statement: Harvard is committed to the safety of Jewish students,” said Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, executive director of Harvard Hillel.

Harvard University is reportedly willing to pay as much as $500 million to the federal government in order to settle outstanding antisemitism and civil rights lawsuits. This report comes just a week after Columbia University agreed to pay $221 million in fines to the government related to allegations of antisemitism, which the White House said it sees as a model for settlements with other universities.