USA Today Op-Ed by ZOA Pres. Morton Klein: Trump’s Antisemitism Strategy Teaches What Universities Have Failed to 

Mort Klein presenting Pres. Trump with ZOA's Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion at ZOA's annual Gala, 2022, NYC

By Morton A. Klein

(April 11, 2025 / Detroit Free Press) Over the past 18 months, an alarming wave of antisemitic incidents has flourished across college campuses, with Jewish students facing harassment, violence, and intimidation on a scale never seen in this country. Tragically, these incidents have become part of a broader narrative of unchecked antisemitism flourishing within the very institutions tasked with preparing the leaders of tomorrow. The Trump administration, particularly through its recent actions on deportations and funding cuts, has done what universities and the Biden administration failed to do — teach a clear lesson to the next generation that actions have consequences and those who incite or engage in violence must be held accountable.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish students on campus have been subjected to constant and continuous verbal and physical assaults, from being punched, to being harassed with genocidal slurs, to enduring the horrors of antisemitic chants during riots. They have had to walk across quads where signs demand their deaths, where an ever-present ‘globalize the Intifada’ campaign is meant to incite violence against them, and where fear for their safety has replaced a sense of academic anticipation. Yet, universities have refused to protect Jewish students and hold their attackers accountable — often in the name of promoting free speech or creating “safe spaces” for marginalized views — repeatedly allowing antisemitic hate speech and violent rhetoric to thrive unchecked.

Since late 2023, members of Congress and the Jewish community have demanded action to halt the campus pogroms and hold their organizers and enablers accountable. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-Virginia, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, held eye-opening hearings focused on campus antisemitism, which resulted in the on-the-record refusal by leading university presidents to acknowledge that calling for the murder of Jews violates campus free speech policies. Each of these hearings demanded action from the university presidents and the Biden administration, but ultimately fell on deaf ears.

Throughout the entire saga, the Zionist Organization of America has and continues to file multiple complaints with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, meet with OCR officials, write detailed letters to prior and current attorney generals, FBI Directors and OCR staff calling for investigations, arrests and prosecution of organizations, leaders, funders and actors perpetrating violence and Jew-hatred on campuses.

In a dramatic shift, the Trump administration has stepped in to do what the prior administration failed to do: hold people and entities accountable for their actions, both for their attacks and for fostering an environment of hate. By doing so it is also teaching the next generation that their actions have consequences.

Against universities that have failed to sufficiently combat antisemitism, the administration implementing appropriate and legally authorized penalties for violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including terminating funds to universities that continue to allow their campuses to be hotbeds of antisemitic hate.

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