new york
CNN
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The Anti-Defamation League scored 85 U.S. universities on their policies to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitism on campus. It gave Harvard and 12 other schools an “F” grade. Only two schools received an “A” grade.
In the wake of Hamas' October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel and the country's devastating response, reports of anti-Semitism on college campuses across the United States have skyrocketed. The ADL said anti-Semitic incidents on campus have reached historic levels, leaving Jewish students feeling unsafe.
“As I travel around the country, I constantly hear from Jewish families struggling to decide where to send their children to college,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. Stated. “School leaders must make significant changes to support the Jewish community on campus. We expect nothing less.”
ADL looked at dozens of America's top liberal arts colleges and those with the highest percentages of Jewish students. The organization provided each school with a survey and received responses from 84% of the campuses it evaluated. ADL also reviewed other public information, including pending federal investigations related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination on the basis of religion, race, and sex.
Since October 7, the Department of Education has launched an unprecedented number of Title VI investigations into universities including Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, and Stanford University.
The more than a dozen schools that received failing grades from the ADL include Harvard University, MIT, Stanford University, University of Chicago, Princeton University, University of Virginia, Tufts University, Michigan State University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, New York Includes Purchase College and New York University Rockland College. , Swarthmore.
Harvard University in particular has attracted national attention for anti-Semitic incidents.
Days after the Hamas attack, Harvard University's student union federation issued a joint statement blaming Israel for the attack, although some members of the group later disavowed this statement. The statement sparked widespread outrage, prompting many prominent donors to withdraw their funds or condemn the university's administration.
Since then, there have been incidents on campus including the destruction of Israeli hostage posters and anti-Semitic cartoons shared on Instagram accounts belonging to the Harvard Palestine Justice Faculty Group, the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, and African American resistance groups. Many other incidents occurred. organization (the group later apologized).
In December, former school president Claudine Gay testified before the House Education Committee along with two other presidents to argue whether calls for the slaughter of Jews on campus violated school rules. I had a hard time. Gay later apologized and clarified that claiming the genocide of Jews would be a violation of Harvard University rules.
But the fallout was swift and severe, disrupting Harvard's operations and efforts to combat anti-Semitism. Rabbi David Wolpe, a visiting fellow at Harvard Divinity School, announced his resignation from his position on Harvard's Anti-Semitism Advisory Group shortly after her testimony, and Gay also resigned in January.
When interim President Alan Garber announced the Presidential Task Force on Anti-Semitism, he named Harvard Business School professor Rafaela Sadoun and Harvard professor Derek Pensler as co-chairs. Within days, Pensler's selection sparked a backlash, with some critics, including prominent economist and former university president Larry Summers, raising concerns about his background and previous work. Sadun resigned after taking the helm for a month.
Harvard University remains under federal investigation for possible Title VI violations, and several Jewish students are suing Harvard for failing to protect them from anti-Semitism. Jews make up 10% of undergraduate students and 53% of graduate students at Harvard University.
In response, Harvard University referred CNN to its response to a congressional investigation filed a month ago. The university said it has taken action to combat anti-Semitism by supporting student safety, fostering civil discussion, updating policies and reporting procedures, and reaching out to the Jewish community.
MIT and Stanford University, which also received an “F” grade, have similarly come under national scrutiny for repeated incidents of anti-Semitism and administrators' inability to control it. Three other schools that received national attention for anti-Semitic acts on campus – Columbia University, Rutgers University and the University of Pennsylvania – also received “D” grades.
Only two universities received an “A” rating: Brandeis and Elon.
ADL noted that Brandeis University was the first private university to rescind recognition of the student chapter of Palestine Justice, and the student union issued a statement condemning Hamas. Brandeis partnered with a foundation that fights anti-Semitism to classify the phrase “From River to Sea” as hate speech. Critics of the phrase argue that the cry advocates the genocide of Jews.
Thirty-five percent of Brandeis students are Jewish, making it one of the largest Jewish populations on campus in the nation. Although founded as a nonsectarian school, Brandeis was founded with support from the Jewish community and named after former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish member of the Supreme Court.
ADL also praised Elon University for providing the student body and faculty with an opportunity to learn about Hamas attacks and encourage dialogue.
In addition to the two “A” grades and 13 “F” grades, 17 schools received a “B” grade, 29 schools received a “C” grade and 24 schools received a “D” grade, according to the ADL. .
“Every campus should get an A,” Greenblatt said in a statement. “This is not grade inflation, it's the minimum expected of every group on every campus.” “Like all students, Jewish students should feel safe and supported on campus.”
Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 left 1,200 people dead and hundreds of Israelis taken hostage. Israel's devastating response to the attack left more than 30,000 people dead in the Gaza Strip.