Six months after the Hamas attacks in Israel and the controversy that rippled across college campuses in its aftermath, the Anti-Defamation League unveiled its first Campus Antisemitism Report Card. The report looks at 85 colleges and universities, which include schools with the highest levels of Jewish student enrollment as well as the country’s top liberal arts schools. Schools were assessed based on 21 criteria organized into three groups: administrative policies and actions, campus incidents, and Jewish life on campus.
Of the 85 schools included in the first report card, 27% received a D for “deficient approach.” Another 15%, including schools such as Harvard and MIT received an F. (The University of Pennsylvania, the third school highlighted in the House Education and Workforce December 5 hearing on campus antisemitism, received a D.) Taken together, 42% of the schools received a D or worse in the ratings.
About a third of the schools (34%) received a C grade, indicating “corrections needed.” Another 21% received a B, indicating “better than most.” Only two received an A grade, indicating they were “ahead of the pack”: Brandeis University and Elon University. However, as the Report Card FAQs note, letter grades above an F should be interpreted with caution, and are not definitive conclusions as to whether campuses do or do not have antisemitism problems. Readers are encouraged to look at individual campus profiles for a fuller understanding of how each campus is doing.
Columbia University, which earned a D in the report, will be the subject of another House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on antisemitism later this week. The school’s leaders will be testifying on Capitol Hill this Wednesday morning.