Dear Campus Alert subscribers: Starting this week, many colleges and universities have Spring breaks and students will be off campus. During that time, we are delivering this newsletter each Tuesday and Thursday.

Campus Leadership. Against the backdrop of campus protests, Dan Senor recorded “Are ANY Colleges Confronting the Madness?,” an episode of his Call Me Back podcast at Never is Now with two university leaders — Washington University Chancellor Andrew Martin and University of Michigan President Santa Ono, PhD. Don't miss this fascinating conversation, which was recorded live from the Never Is Now mainstage, as Senor and these school leaders talk about lessons learned and charting a path forward.

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Columbia. Columbia University, which has seen numerous anti-Israel protests since the 10/7 Hamas attacks, faces the prospect of being the first university hit with a cut in federal funds connected to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Trump administration has announced the cancellation of $400 million in federal funding due to antisemitic demonstrations. Interim President Katrina Armstrong addressed the cuts, saying “We have had now a message from the federal government that they are going to be pausing our funding across many agencies because of these concerns.” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt commented on this government tactic: “Using the power of the purse can be effective in prompting change when it hits the right targets. We look forward to learning more about the cancelled grants to ensure they target the sources of antisemitism — and to seeing Columbia take meaningful action to earn their reinstatement by standing up to those individuals who are hurting the rest of the community."

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Columbia. More Columbia news... As part of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on anti-Israel activists, immigration agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian who had been a grad student at Columbia University. Khalil played a visible role in anti-Israel protests, with the Department of Homeland Security saying he led activities "aligned to Hamas.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported." Some civil rights groups condemned this as an attack on free speech. ADL has voiced its support for holding perpetrators responsible for their actions in stoking campus antisemitism, while also emphasizing the need for due process in deportation cases. As of now, efforts to deport Khalil are on hold; a federal judge has blocked his deportation as the court considers the legal challenges.

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Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is sending warnings to 60 universities, alleging that the schools are not complying with Title VI obligations to protect Jewish students and face potential enforcement actions because of this. In commenting on the new action, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that "U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”

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DePaul. Anti-Israel group Behind Enemy Lines held a protest at DePaul University last week in defiance of a campus ban due to the group’s promotion of violence. Chicago police and DePaul security blocked demonstrators from entering the ‘quad,’ leading to an hour-long rally on the sidewalk. DePaul fared poorly in the latest release of ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card for its handling of antisemitism, but ADL’s regional team praised the school’s communication and response to this protest. The university reaffirmed its commitment to campus safety, vowing to enforce policies against banned groups and maintain increased security patrols.

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California Schools. Last week, Jewish organizations brought complaints against two colleges and a K-12 school district in California based on allegations that the schools are in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ADL was one of the filers of the complaint against Scripps College, alleging that the school repeatedly abandoned Jewish and Israeli students targeted by antisemitic harassment. ADL was also part of the complaint against the Etiwanda school district, which was centered on a 12-year-old girl who was subjected to repeated antisemitic bullying, harassment and discrimination that escalated due to inaction from the school. In a third case, California State Polytechnic University (Cal Poly), Humboldt has been accused of not addressing problems where Jewish students have been attacked verbally and physically.

DEEPER: The Etiwanda case was the first complaint brought through a K-12 legal helpline that ADL is a partner in. Click here for the helpline, which is currently available in the states of CA, MA and NY.

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Maine. Last week at the University of Maine, dozens of students joined an anti-Israel rally demanding the university divest from companies linked to the Israeli military. The rally was led by UMaine Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP). Protesters called on the Board of Trustees to adopt the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism. This protest follows the Board’s previous unequivocal rejection of similar demands. The rally concluded with a campus march, with students vowing to continue their fight at the next Board of Trustees meeting.

UMaine JVP speaks at anti-Israel protest. (Source: Elora Griswold/Maine Campus)

Come Together. As part of the recent Hillel International annual conference, a meeting within that meeting was Hillel’s Israel summit, where pro-Israel student leaders shared ideas and learned from community leaders and subject matter experts. Students discussed what campus life since 10/7 has been like for them and other Jewish students. They talked about the power of connecting to give each other strength as they rallied against anti-Israel messages. As Maya Shiloni, a Harvard student who chaired the Israel summit said, the gathering was a promise “that we will not be silent. That we will continue to be proud. That we will continue to lead, to advocate, and to celebrate our people and our homeland.”

Hillel’s conference. (Source: Hillel International)

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A Price to Pay. Zina Rakhamilova is telling elite universities that there will be a cost to ignoring antisemitism on their campuses. Rakhamilova, Co-Founder of Social life Creative, asserts that for too long administrators have ignored Jewish students’ concerns while some faculty openly praised terrorist organizations. Now, the federal government is investigating elite universities for potential civil rights violations, a move signaling a new era of accountability for universities that fail to protect Jewish students from antisemitism. Rakhamilova said, “For too long, antisemitism has been treated as a lesser form of hate. Now, these institutions are learning the hard way: Allowing antisemitism to thrive on campus will cost them dearly.”

Tech + Tikkun = TOM. Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) is an Israeli nonprofit that develops technologies that help people with physical disabilities. TOM was recognized as a Zero Project "Scaling Fellow," giving it greater resources to expand its impact. They were honored at the Zero Project Conference at the UN, where they highlighted TOM’s model of bringing together volunteer engineers and disability advocates to create affordable assistive devices. Despite facing funding cuts due to the Trump Administration's freeze to USAID, TOM continues to foster collaboration with partners from Abraham Accord countries and beyond. Founder Gidi Grinstein said, “There are people here from Arab countries and from countries in the Middle East and we are connecting across religious, political and national lines around the issue of disabilities.”

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Clear. Israel marked National Defibrillator Day by teaching 35,000 participants how to recognize cardiac arrest, use a defibrillator and call Magen David Adom’s (MDA) emergency line. These efforts may pay dividends, as will a new push to install smart defibrillator stations across Israel in high traffic areas including synagogues, parks and lottery kiosks. The training day was wide-ranging; youth volunteers led sessions in high schools, and MDA teams led workplace programs. As MDA’s Director General Eli Bin vowed, “we will continue expanding their availability across public spaces, residential buildings and communities.”

• 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.
• 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.
• 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? Please email us at campus@adl.org with any suggestions, questions, photos or videos.