| From | ADL Campus <[email protected]> |
| Subject | 🚨 Campus Crisis Alert |
| Date | July 8, 2025 4:41 PM |
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Good morning and welcome to the Campus Crisis Alert. If you want to subscribe,
[link removed]
sign up here.
Dear Campus Alert subscribers: We are grateful that you turn to ADL to stay informed and support Jewish students and faculty. After this week, this newsletter will take a pause for the summer unless special editions are needed. We will restart ahead of the coming school year, with more of the updates and analysis you rely on.
📰 Top Stories
Israeli Lawmakers Convene on Campus Antisemitism. Earlier today, the Israeli Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs held a hearing focused on antisemitism on campuses around the world. The Committee heard testimony from students from Israel, the United States and around the world, as well as from experts focused on campus antisemitism, including ADL's VP of Advocacy Shira Goodman, who reminded the committee that “college campuses have become an epicenter of American antisemitism.” She called attention to the staggering number of antisemitic incidents on campus in the U.S. and discussed ADL work to push universities to keep Jewish students, faculty and
staff safe. Shira shared information about ADL’s
[link removed]
Campus Antisemitism Report Card,
[link removed]
CALL (the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line) and our training of students in the U.S., Europe and Latin America on how to respond to campus antisemitism, noting that ADL is the largest provider of this training to Jewish students in the latter two regions.
~~~~~
Teachers Union Targets ADL in Divisive Vote Tied to Gaza. Despite vociferous objections from Jewish members, delegates to the National Education Association narrowly passed a measure that, if implemented, would bar the teachers union from using, endorsing or publicizing any educational materials from ADL.
[link removed]
The Jewish Insider reported that in the moments before the vote several Jewish delegates spoke out in opposition to the bill. A spokesperson for the NEA's Jewish affairs caucus said the action "sends a troubling message of exclusion and undermines our shared goal of ensuring every student feels safe and supported." ADL called the measure "profoundly disturbing," and noted that the bill was an attack on educational resources on antisemitism, the Holocaust and anti-bias learning. The new measure will now move to the union’s executive committee for consideration.
~~~~~
George Mason. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has notified George Mason University that
[link removed]
it is under investigation over concerns cited in the
[link removed]
DOE notification that the school was "failing to respond effectively to a pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty." As shown in
[link removed]
ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card, George Mason faced a series of problematic incidents in 2023 and 2024 including the discovery of weapons and terrorist paraphernalia in the homes of two students who were SJP leaders. The ADL Report Card also notes substantial steps taken to respond to incidents and to support Jewish life on campus.
~~~~~
Costly Protests. Universities across the U.S. and U.K. are facing pricey cleanup bills from months of anti-Israel encampments protesting the Israel-Hamas war. In California, the University of California system spent
[link removed]
over $29 million in spring 2024, with UCLA alone reporting $10 million in security and $400,000 in repairs. Encampments reportedly left behind vandalism, pest infestations and damage to campus grounds. At UC Davis, students noted lingering graffiti and dead grass. In the U.K., Oxford and Cambridge reported a combined L615,000 in cleanup and security expenses. Cambridge faced particular concern after activists occupied an administrative building housing sensitive data. Over a year after the peak of the campus protests, administrators on both sides of the Atlantic are still dealing with the financial and safety fallout.
At UCLA in 2024, anti-Israel encampment next to Royce Hall. (Source: Jeremy Chen/Daily Bruin)
~~~~~
Barnard. A
[link removed]
settlement has been reached in Students Against Antisemitism, Inc. et al v. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. In the agreement between Barnard and a group of Jewish students, the school will take a number of steps including adding an anti-masking policy at demonstrations, refusing to divest from companies that have ties to Israel, no longer meeting with anti-Israel campus groups, providing required training on antisemitism to students, faculty and staff and more.
[link removed]
ADL commended the agreement, saying “These and other reforms are positive steps to help protect Jewish students, faculty and staff.”
~~~~~
Columbia. Members of a U.S. House committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses
[link removed]
have released private text messages from Columbia University’s acting president, Claire Shipman, in which she expresses distrust toward a Jewish trustee, Shoshana Shendelman, who had been outspoken about the university’s failure to protect Jewish students. The messages, written in 2023 and 2024 during her time as co-president of the board, include Shipman agreeing with another trustee that Shendelman might be “a mole” and calling her “extraordinarily unhelpful” during campus protests following the 10/7 Hamas attacks. After this release of her texts, Shipman issued an apology to the board, saying her comments were made in frustration and don’t
reflect her true views.
[link removed]
ADL called on Shipman to apologize publicly as well, and to acknowledge the impact of her comments in perpetuating a hostile campus climate for the Jewish community.
~~~~~
University of California. The University of California system
[link removed]
reaffirmed its policy barring financial boycotts of companies based on their association with any country, following calls by some student governments in the UC system to target Israel. In a letter to UC chancellors, President Michael Drake emphasized that financial decisions must follow “sound business practices,” and that boycotts based on nationality violate that principle. While Drake’s letter applied to all countries, advocates noted the context of recent anti-Israel boycott efforts. ADL’s Robert Trestan
[link removed]
welcomed the move, calling boycotts of Israel “a harmful, one-sided movement” that can normalize antisemitism. Jewish faculty and advocacy groups applauded Drake’s statement, though some urged UC to go further in addressing academic boycotts.
~~~~~
Ireland. A senior faculty member at Ireland’s University of Limerick, Ger Downes,
[link removed]
allegedly assaulted student Jamie O’Mahony during an off-campus lecture by anti-Israel historian Ilan Pappe. The altercation, partially caught on video, shows Downes grabbing an Israeli flag from O’Mahony and physically confronting him after the student posed a question defending Israel’s democratic freedoms and criticizing Pappe’s views. Downes, listed as the university’s Postgraduate Research Development Manager, has faced backlash, including from Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, who condemned the act as antisemitic and called on the university to take action.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
K-12 Coverage
Concord-Carlisle Regional K-12 School District.
[link removed]
ADL and partners have filed a brief with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that officials at the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District in Massachusetts failed to protect Jewish students from pervasive antisemitic harassment, discrimination and retaliation. The filing documents an alarming pattern of antisemitic bullying, slurs, threats, and retaliation at Concord-Carlisle High School and Concord Middle School in Concord, Massachusetts, with at least one Jewish student forced to leave the district to escape the hostile climate. ADL termed it a “systematic issue” and noted that “It’s clear that much work is needed for this
district to become a place that truly protects its Jewish students.”
~~~~~
Seattle Public K-12 Schools. The Seattle Public School District has announced that it will
[link removed]
terminate the employment of a high school teacher who is now on administrative leave. The teacher had been recorded in 2024 in a video interview as saying that the 10/7 attacks were justified and he also questioned whether anyone was raped at the Nova music festival during that terrorist massacre. The teacher is appealing the decision by the school district.
~~~~~
Virginia K-12 School. Two Jewish parents have filed a civil rights complaint alleging their children were expelled from the Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, VA after reporting antisemitic bullying.
[link removed]
According to the complaint, their 11-year-old daughter faced harassment over the Israel-Hamas conflict and encountered disturbing classroom incidents, including a social studies project depicting Adolf Hitler as a “strong leader.” The parents say the school canceled a Holocaust program speaker and later removed their children, citing a lack of trust. Nysmith’s director denies wrongdoing. The Brandeis Center, representing the family, says the children were “shattered” by the expulsion. The complaint was filed with the Virginia Attorney General.
🏆 Campus Champions
Stronger Jewish Connections. Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary have
[link removed]
expanded their ties, announcing that all Barnard students can now take JTS classes in Jewish studies and have them count towards their degree requirements. Given the string of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents at Barnard (see above for news about a settlement related to this), and the federal Title VI investigation that the school is currently under, the partnership is a timely one, giving Barnard students “access to a deeper Jewish studies experience and the expertise and scholarship” that JTS is offering.
The Jewish Theological Seminary. (Source: Courtesy JTS)
~~~~~
Leadership Over Chaos. Vanderbilt and Washington University chancellors Daniel Diermeier and Andrew Martin are calling for a new tone for Jewish life on campus:
[link removed]
principled leadership, not politicized chaos. As other universities struggled with antisemitism and campus unrest after 10/7, these schools stood firm—rejecting boycotts of Israel, protecting free expression, and creating space for Jewish students to thrive. Both campuses boast strong Jewish communities (14% at Vanderbilt, 22% at WashU), and their chancellors have become outspoken voices against the “creeping politicization” plaguing higher education. WashU even launched a midyear transfer option to welcome students leaving hostile campuses. Their message is simple: universities should be places where Jewish students feel safe, proud and empowered to lead.
~~~~~
The ‘Everything Bagel’ of Jewish History Retires from Teaching. Jonathan Sarna, the go-to historian for just about anything related to American Jewish life—from bagels to the U.S. context on antisemitism to the Civil War—
[link removed]
is stepping down from teaching after 35 years at Brandeis University to focus on writing and research. Revered for his definitive 2004 book American Judaism and countless other works, Sarna shined a unique lens on antisemitism in the U.S., and he presciently pushed back on those who claimed that antisemitism was fading as a problem. Explaining his retirement, Sarna said: “I’ve never met a professor who said, ‘I wish I’d gone to two more meetings.’”
📣 Info and Action:
[link removed]
Not on My Campus
-
[link removed]
Campus Community Advocacy Resources — From social media shares to letter writing campaigns, ADL has clear steps for you to take action and effect change on college campuses.
-
[link removed]
K-12 Advocacy Resources — Tools and knowledge to foster and advocate for a safe, inclusive and equitable school environment for all.
-
[link removed]
University Faculty and Staff — Support for impacted faculty and staff, guidance on how to discuss what constitutes antisemitism and anti-Zionism and how to provide help to students and colleagues.
-
[link removed]
University Administration — Guidance & Best Practices for making campuses safer and more inclusive.
-
[link removed]
Campus Antisemitism Report Card — See the grades of 135 universities, the current state of antisemitism on campus and how colleges and universities are responding.
-
[link removed]
Chai-er Ed Podcast — ADL’s campus podcast, brings you firsthand stories from Jewish students navigating today’s college campuses.
-
[link removed]
General Campus Resources — ADL Backgrounders, Educational Programming, Research and Analysis and more.
-
[link removed]
Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL) — College or university students, professors, or employees who want to report campus incidents of antisemitic discrimination, intimidation, harassment, vandalism or violence that may necessitate legal action can report to CALL for legal support.
-
[link removed]
K-12 Antisemitism Legal Line — Parents and other interested adults in California, Massachusetts and New York can report incidents of antisemitic discrimination, intimidation, harassment, vandalism or violence occurring in K-12 schools to the K-12 Antisemitism Legal Line.
-
[link removed]
Report an Antisemitic Incident.
Thank you for reading the Campus Crisis Alert, brought to you by the ADL Ronald Birnbaum Center to Combat Antisemitism in Education (CCAE). Do you have something to share with us? Please email us at
mailto:[email protected]
[email protected] with any suggestions, questions, photos or videos.
[link removed]
Support Our Work
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Subscribe to Our Newsletters
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Read Our Blog and Follow Us
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ADL, 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10158
(c) 2025
[link removed]
Anti-Defamation League . All rights reserved.
[link removed]
Contact ADL
[link removed]
Unsubscribe or Update Email Preferences
[link removed]
Privacy Policy
[link removed]
View email in browser —
[link removed]
Good morning and welcome to the Campus Crisis Alert. If you want to subscribe,
[link removed]
sign up here.
Dear Campus Alert subscribers: We are grateful that you turn to ADL to stay informed and support Jewish students and faculty. After this week, this newsletter will take a pause for the summer unless special editions are needed. We will restart ahead of the coming school year, with more of the updates and analysis you rely on.
📰 Top Stories
Israeli Lawmakers Convene on Campus Antisemitism. Earlier today, the Israeli Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs held a hearing focused on antisemitism on campuses around the world. The Committee heard testimony from students from Israel, the United States and around the world, as well as from experts focused on campus antisemitism, including ADL's VP of Advocacy Shira Goodman, who reminded the committee that “college campuses have become an epicenter of American antisemitism.” She called attention to the staggering number of antisemitic incidents on campus in the U.S. and discussed ADL work to push universities to keep Jewish students, faculty and
staff safe. Shira shared information about ADL’s
[link removed]
Campus Antisemitism Report Card,
[link removed]
CALL (the Campus Antisemitism Legal Line) and our training of students in the U.S., Europe and Latin America on how to respond to campus antisemitism, noting that ADL is the largest provider of this training to Jewish students in the latter two regions.
~~~~~
Teachers Union Targets ADL in Divisive Vote Tied to Gaza. Despite vociferous objections from Jewish members, delegates to the National Education Association narrowly passed a measure that, if implemented, would bar the teachers union from using, endorsing or publicizing any educational materials from ADL.
[link removed]
The Jewish Insider reported that in the moments before the vote several Jewish delegates spoke out in opposition to the bill. A spokesperson for the NEA's Jewish affairs caucus said the action "sends a troubling message of exclusion and undermines our shared goal of ensuring every student feels safe and supported." ADL called the measure "profoundly disturbing," and noted that the bill was an attack on educational resources on antisemitism, the Holocaust and anti-bias learning. The new measure will now move to the union’s executive committee for consideration.
~~~~~
George Mason. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has notified George Mason University that
[link removed]
it is under investigation over concerns cited in the
[link removed]
DOE notification that the school was "failing to respond effectively to a pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty." As shown in
[link removed]
ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card, George Mason faced a series of problematic incidents in 2023 and 2024 including the discovery of weapons and terrorist paraphernalia in the homes of two students who were SJP leaders. The ADL Report Card also notes substantial steps taken to respond to incidents and to support Jewish life on campus.
~~~~~
Costly Protests. Universities across the U.S. and U.K. are facing pricey cleanup bills from months of anti-Israel encampments protesting the Israel-Hamas war. In California, the University of California system spent
[link removed]
over $29 million in spring 2024, with UCLA alone reporting $10 million in security and $400,000 in repairs. Encampments reportedly left behind vandalism, pest infestations and damage to campus grounds. At UC Davis, students noted lingering graffiti and dead grass. In the U.K., Oxford and Cambridge reported a combined L615,000 in cleanup and security expenses. Cambridge faced particular concern after activists occupied an administrative building housing sensitive data. Over a year after the peak of the campus protests, administrators on both sides of the Atlantic are still dealing with the financial and safety fallout.
At UCLA in 2024, anti-Israel encampment next to Royce Hall. (Source: Jeremy Chen/Daily Bruin)
~~~~~
Barnard. A
[link removed]
settlement has been reached in Students Against Antisemitism, Inc. et al v. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. In the agreement between Barnard and a group of Jewish students, the school will take a number of steps including adding an anti-masking policy at demonstrations, refusing to divest from companies that have ties to Israel, no longer meeting with anti-Israel campus groups, providing required training on antisemitism to students, faculty and staff and more.
[link removed]
ADL commended the agreement, saying “These and other reforms are positive steps to help protect Jewish students, faculty and staff.”
~~~~~
Columbia. Members of a U.S. House committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses
[link removed]
have released private text messages from Columbia University’s acting president, Claire Shipman, in which she expresses distrust toward a Jewish trustee, Shoshana Shendelman, who had been outspoken about the university’s failure to protect Jewish students. The messages, written in 2023 and 2024 during her time as co-president of the board, include Shipman agreeing with another trustee that Shendelman might be “a mole” and calling her “extraordinarily unhelpful” during campus protests following the 10/7 Hamas attacks. After this release of her texts, Shipman issued an apology to the board, saying her comments were made in frustration and don’t
reflect her true views.
[link removed]
ADL called on Shipman to apologize publicly as well, and to acknowledge the impact of her comments in perpetuating a hostile campus climate for the Jewish community.
~~~~~
University of California. The University of California system
[link removed]
reaffirmed its policy barring financial boycotts of companies based on their association with any country, following calls by some student governments in the UC system to target Israel. In a letter to UC chancellors, President Michael Drake emphasized that financial decisions must follow “sound business practices,” and that boycotts based on nationality violate that principle. While Drake’s letter applied to all countries, advocates noted the context of recent anti-Israel boycott efforts. ADL’s Robert Trestan
[link removed]
welcomed the move, calling boycotts of Israel “a harmful, one-sided movement” that can normalize antisemitism. Jewish faculty and advocacy groups applauded Drake’s statement, though some urged UC to go further in addressing academic boycotts.
~~~~~
Ireland. A senior faculty member at Ireland’s University of Limerick, Ger Downes,
[link removed]
allegedly assaulted student Jamie O’Mahony during an off-campus lecture by anti-Israel historian Ilan Pappe. The altercation, partially caught on video, shows Downes grabbing an Israeli flag from O’Mahony and physically confronting him after the student posed a question defending Israel’s democratic freedoms and criticizing Pappe’s views. Downes, listed as the university’s Postgraduate Research Development Manager, has faced backlash, including from Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, who condemned the act as antisemitic and called on the university to take action.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
K-12 Coverage
Concord-Carlisle Regional K-12 School District.
[link removed]
ADL and partners have filed a brief with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights alleging that officials at the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District in Massachusetts failed to protect Jewish students from pervasive antisemitic harassment, discrimination and retaliation. The filing documents an alarming pattern of antisemitic bullying, slurs, threats, and retaliation at Concord-Carlisle High School and Concord Middle School in Concord, Massachusetts, with at least one Jewish student forced to leave the district to escape the hostile climate. ADL termed it a “systematic issue” and noted that “It’s clear that much work is needed for this
district to become a place that truly protects its Jewish students.”
~~~~~
Seattle Public K-12 Schools. The Seattle Public School District has announced that it will
[link removed]
terminate the employment of a high school teacher who is now on administrative leave. The teacher had been recorded in 2024 in a video interview as saying that the 10/7 attacks were justified and he also questioned whether anyone was raped at the Nova music festival during that terrorist massacre. The teacher is appealing the decision by the school district.
~~~~~
Virginia K-12 School. Two Jewish parents have filed a civil rights complaint alleging their children were expelled from the Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, VA after reporting antisemitic bullying.
[link removed]
According to the complaint, their 11-year-old daughter faced harassment over the Israel-Hamas conflict and encountered disturbing classroom incidents, including a social studies project depicting Adolf Hitler as a “strong leader.” The parents say the school canceled a Holocaust program speaker and later removed their children, citing a lack of trust. Nysmith’s director denies wrongdoing. The Brandeis Center, representing the family, says the children were “shattered” by the expulsion. The complaint was filed with the Virginia Attorney General.
🏆 Campus Champions
Stronger Jewish Connections. Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary have
[link removed]
expanded their ties, announcing that all Barnard students can now take JTS classes in Jewish studies and have them count towards their degree requirements. Given the string of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents at Barnard (see above for news about a settlement related to this), and the federal Title VI investigation that the school is currently under, the partnership is a timely one, giving Barnard students “access to a deeper Jewish studies experience and the expertise and scholarship” that JTS is offering.
The Jewish Theological Seminary. (Source: Courtesy JTS)
~~~~~
Leadership Over Chaos. Vanderbilt and Washington University chancellors Daniel Diermeier and Andrew Martin are calling for a new tone for Jewish life on campus:
[link removed]
principled leadership, not politicized chaos. As other universities struggled with antisemitism and campus unrest after 10/7, these schools stood firm—rejecting boycotts of Israel, protecting free expression, and creating space for Jewish students to thrive. Both campuses boast strong Jewish communities (14% at Vanderbilt, 22% at WashU), and their chancellors have become outspoken voices against the “creeping politicization” plaguing higher education. WashU even launched a midyear transfer option to welcome students leaving hostile campuses. Their message is simple: universities should be places where Jewish students feel safe, proud and empowered to lead.
~~~~~
The ‘Everything Bagel’ of Jewish History Retires from Teaching. Jonathan Sarna, the go-to historian for just about anything related to American Jewish life—from bagels to the U.S. context on antisemitism to the Civil War—
[link removed]
is stepping down from teaching after 35 years at Brandeis University to focus on writing and research. Revered for his definitive 2004 book American Judaism and countless other works, Sarna shined a unique lens on antisemitism in the U.S., and he presciently pushed back on those who claimed that antisemitism was fading as a problem. Explaining his retirement, Sarna said: “I’ve never met a professor who said, ‘I wish I’d gone to two more meetings.’”
📣 Info and Action:
[link removed]
Not on My Campus
-
[link removed]
Campus Community Advocacy Resources — From social media shares to letter writing campaigns, ADL has clear steps for you to take action and effect change on college campuses.
-
[link removed]
K-12 Advocacy Resources — Tools and knowledge to foster and advocate for a safe, inclusive and equitable school environment for all.
-
[link removed]
University Faculty and Staff — Support for impacted faculty and staff, guidance on how to discuss what constitutes antisemitism and anti-Zionism and how to provide help to students and colleagues.
-
[link removed]
University Administration — Guidance & Best Practices for making campuses safer and more inclusive.
-
[link removed]
Campus Antisemitism Report Card — See the grades of 135 universities, the current state of antisemitism on campus and how colleges and universities are responding.
-
[link removed]
Chai-er Ed Podcast — ADL’s campus podcast, brings you firsthand stories from Jewish students navigating today’s college campuses.
-
[link removed]
General Campus Resources — ADL Backgrounders, Educational Programming, Research and Analysis and more.
-
[link removed]
Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL) — College or university students, professors, or employees who want to report campus incidents of antisemitic discrimination, intimidation, harassment, vandalism or violence that may necessitate legal action can report to CALL for legal support.
-
[link removed]
K-12 Antisemitism Legal Line — Parents and other interested adults in California, Massachusetts and New York can report incidents of antisemitic discrimination, intimidation, harassment, vandalism or violence occurring in K-12 schools to the K-12 Antisemitism Legal Line.
-
[link removed]
Report an Antisemitic Incident.
Thank you for reading the Campus Crisis Alert, brought to you by the ADL Ronald Birnbaum Center to Combat Antisemitism in Education (CCAE). Do you have something to share with us? Please email us at
mailto:[email protected]
[email protected] with any suggestions, questions, photos or videos.
[link removed]
Support Our Work
[link removed]
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
[link removed]
Read Our Blog and Follow Us
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
ADL, 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10158
(c) 2025
[link removed]
Anti-Defamation League . All rights reserved.
[link removed]
Contact ADL
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Unsubscribe or Update Email Preferences
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