It’s hard to believe that summer is over! (I don’t know about you, but I am still doing my kids’ camp laundry.) Some of you have already dropped off a college student on campus. Some of you are still packing. All of us are committed to making sure that every Jewish student can feel welcomed on campus — without harassment and intimidation. As the school year ramps up, so will these updates. We need to stay informed so that we can be there for our college students, and make sure that all colleges are living up to their responsibilities to Jewish students.

As we navigate a new academic year, our mission remains the same: to keep you informed, highlight those standing against hate and celebrate stories of resilience and joy within the Jewish community. Thank you for joining us again. Let’s stay vigilant and engaged — the fight against hate is far from over. As we say at ADL, Never is Now!

Columbia. Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned August 14, just before the start of the new school year. Her resignation comes after just over a year in the role, making her the fourth Ivy League president to resign since 10/7. Commenting on the news, a group of Columbia’s Jewish and Israeli students wrote: “We hope that this brings to a close this period of turmoil in Columbia’s history.” Columbia announced Katrina Armstrong, dean of Columbia’s medical school, would serve as interim president.

This news came just days before Columbia announced they would be restricting access to campus given reports of potential disruptions with the beginning of the new school year.

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Cornell. Last fall, the Ithaca campus was rocked by death threats posted online, targeting Jewish students and the Hillel at Cornell. On August 13, former Cornell University student Patrick Dai, 22, was sentenced to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release for making violent threats, including death and assault, against the Jewish community at Cornell last October. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of “posting threats to kill or injure another person using interstate communications” and was charged with a hate crime. Dai was suspended from the University, and his sentence terms include no contact with Cornell.

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Harvard. Even with its now infamous grade inflation, Harvard University is not making the mark when it comes to doing right by its Jewish students. In July, Harvard released diplomas to 11 students who participated in the anti-Israel protests this past spring. The Harvard College Administrative Board also decided to reverse their decision to suspend five students who participated in the protests. While Harvard seems not to want to hold students who break its rules accountable, the federal courts are willing to entertain the notion that they will hold Harvard accountable for antisemitism on campus. On August 6, a federal judge denied Harvard’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Jewish students calling out the University for failing to address “severe and pervasive” campus antisemitism.

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Stanford. In June, the Stanford Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias Subcommittee of the Jewish Advisory Committee released a report documenting the horrific campus environment that Jewish and Israeli students and faculty faced throughout the school year. “Antisemitism exists today on the Stanford campus in ways that are widespread and pernicious,” the report stated. The subcommittee suggested specific recommendations for the University to address the crisis at hand as well as laid out steps to restore a culture of pluralism and tolerance to Stanford.

DEEPER: Read Stanford student Theo Baker’s eye-opening account of what it’s like to be Jewish at Stanford.

LEARN MORE: Read Subcommittee Chairmen Larry Diamond and Jeffrey Koseff explaining their findings and recommendation in the Washington Post.

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UCLA. A federal judge ruled that the University of California, Los Angeles cannot allow anti-Israel protestors to block Jewish students from accessing campus. This decision, the first of its kind in the U.S., follows a civil rights lawsuit filed by three Jewish students raising serious concern regarding UCLA’s failure to protect Jewish students. U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi granted a preliminary injunction saying that UCLA cannot hold classes or allow access to campus buildings if Jewish students are being prevented from entering. “In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith.” Scarsi wrote.

In an interview with Jewish Insider, James Pasch, ADL’s senior director of national litigation, put the ruling into perspective: “It is crucial for every university to know that their students cannot be banned from areas of campus or from organizations on campus for who they are, full stop. The decision by the judge doesn’t just hold weight in the UCLA case, but should set precedent for other similar fact patterns and cases where Jewish students are protected.”

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Wisconsin-Milwaukee. UWM has suspended five anti-Israel student groups after a disturbing social media post in mid-July targeted Hillel Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, labeling them as "local extremists" and declaring that any organization that is supportive of Israel is unwelcome on campus. UWM condemned the post and is conducting an ongoing investigation into the matter, with potential sanctions for the groups ranging from restrictions on campus facilities to loss of student organization status.

United We Stand. On July 31, ADL, Hillel International, AJC, Jewish Federations and the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations issued a set of recommendations, endorsed by a dozen other organizations, for colleges to follow to combat antisemitism in the coming school year. These include: clearly communicating campus rules, standards and policies; enforcing them; supporting Jewish students by unequivocally denouncing antisemitism and providing antisemitism education and training; rejecting BDS; reaffirming faculty responsibilities to create a non-discriminatory learning environment; and preparing for any disruptions that may be tied to the anniversary of the attacks of October 7.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt: “The unprecedented surge in antisemitism on college campuses last year was utterly unacceptable, and yet far too many administrations failed to respond effectively. We insist that all college and university leaders take significant steps to make Jewish students safer.”

👉 TAKE ACTION: Tell the college of your choice that you want them to commit to these simple guidelines to combat antisemitism on campus. Click here!

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What You Can Do. What are the best ways to be a campus champion for the college or university that you care about? Seth Goren, CEO of Hillel Ontario, writes in the latest issue of Sources that sometimes good intentions don’t lead to smart strategies: “[Some] members of the community engage on campus with positive intentions, but their justifiable fear, anger, and sadness draw them away from addressing campus antisemitism with strategies, well-defined desired outcomes, and a set of actions that will get us there.” Goren then lays out a set of helpful hints for those of us who want to help, including just asking those on the ground what you can do!

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Good Shabbos. Recent Harvard graduate Shabbos Kestenbaum spoke at the Republican National Convention on July 18 in Milwaukee, sharing his experience as a student at the Cambridge, MA campus as a Harvard University graduate and proud plaintiff of a lawsuit accusing Harvard University of failing to combat antisemitism. Greeted by applause, Kestenbaum is credited with drawing attention to antisemitism at Harvard. “I was harassed by my peers merely for being a Jew and have received countless death threats online,” Kestenbaum told the gathering.

Olympic Nachas. Israel’s athletes returned home from the 2024 Paris Olympics with their most ever medals in a single Olympics: one gold, five silver and one bronze. In a touching moment, Judoka Peter Paltchik dedicated his bronze medal to his coach’s son, Oren Smadja, who was killed two months prior while fighting in Gaza. We are so proud of these athletes who provided a boost of morale for Israel, and the entire Jewish people.

Peter Paltchik exults. (Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

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Wrestling Hate. Amit Elor, of the United States, is one of the most dominant wrestlers on the planet and won the gold medal in the freestyle wrestling 68-kilogram weight class this summer. With that win, she extended her five-year undefeated streak and became the youngest US Olympic gold medalist in history, at age 18. Despite being one tough woman, that doesn’t prevent Amit from being the target of antisemites, especially online. She posted on TikTok and Instagram this month a response to her tormentors: “80 years ago, my grandparents survived the Holocaust, but anti-Semitism is still there. My grandparents won, I won. Humanity will win. Never again.”

• Students — how to take action, deal with antisemitism, and organize your community.
• Alumni — how to organize a sign-on letter, answer a fundraising request, or write a letter to a university president.
• Parents — write a letter about commencement, organize a dial day, or get help selecting a college for your student.
• Glossary of Commonly Used Antisemitic Phrases Heard at Protests.
• Campus Antisemitism Report Card — see the grade a college earned in this first-ever report card.
• Report an Antisemitic Incident.
• Are you a student or know one who needs legal help? Contact our Campus Antisemitism Legal Line (CALL), run by ADL, Hillel, the Brandeis Center, and Gibson Dunn. Hundreds of incidents have been reported. You are not alone!

Do you have something to share with us? We are building this as we go — so please email us at [email protected] with any suggestions, questions, photos, and videos.