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Haverford. A masked protester with a bullhorn disrupted an event featuring Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur at Haverford College,
shouting genocide claims about Israel and threatening attendees by saying "When Gaza is burned, you will all burn too." The following day, the college President sent a message to the campus community stating that the disruption was "in clear violation of our Policy on Expressive Freedom and Responsibility" and that "shouting down a speaker whom one does not agree with is never acceptable."
ADL quickly called on Haverford
to hold those involved accountable and reached out to the administration to discuss the situation. Following an investigation, the school's Campus Safety Director confirmed that the protester is not a member of the Haverford community and has been banned from campus indefinitely.
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Masked protester is ejected from Haverford event. (Source: Video screenshot via @KristinMReid11 | X) |
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Sarah Lawrence. Jewish students at Sarah Lawrence College were left feeling unsafe and targeted after an event featuring journalist Ezra Klein
was disrupted by protesters affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine. Protesters at the New York school blocked entrances, chanted at attendees and scrawled antisemitic slurs like “Zionist pig” on campus boards. Klein — himself a frequent critic of Israeli policy — attempted to engage the protesters, but they were having none of it. Instead, they chose to send a clear message that simply attending a campus event like this can invite anti-Israel harassment. Sarah Lawrence president Cristle Collins Judd later acknowledged the behavior as
antisemitic and intimidating.
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(Protesters at Ezra Klein event at Sarah Lawrence College. Source: @libbyemmons | X) |
DEEPER: For campus leaders who want to avert disruption, protect students and uphold university values, use ADL’s comprehensive toolkit on safeguarding speeches, commencements and other events.
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Nebraska. Good news and bad news for Jewish students in Nebraska... First the bad: after a heated discussion, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska passed a divestment resolution written in part by the school’s SJP chapter. The school’s Regents and administration quickly rejected the bill. Speaking for opponents of the bill, university Hillel president
Preston Gordman reminded students that “SJP specifically wants to target Israel, and by doing so, they will tarnish UNL’s reputation and kill their federal funding.” Solid call by the Nebraska Regents when you consider that a
report
by ADL-affiliate JLens warns that divestment could cost major universities billions in endowment returns. In more promising news out of the Cornhusker State, Nebraska’s Legislature unanimously gave initial approval to LB 538, a bill that would adopt the IHRA (the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Working Definition of Antisemitism and formally prohibit antisemitic discrimination in K–12 schools and colleges in the state.
DEEPER: Not sure what BDS is all about? See ADL's Guide to Understanding and Countering BDS Calls. For lawmakers in Nebraska and beyond, we recommend
ADL’s toolkit of strategies
for combatting antisemitism at the state level. And if want to see how your state is doing in that fight, use ADL’s new Jewish Policy Index. Then speak out!
Click here to choose your state and make your voice heard.
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University of Washington. The University of Washington will require
campus-wide civil rights training that touches on antisemitism under an agreement with the U.S. Dept of Education, following federal scrutiny over the school’s response to antisemitism. The requirement expands training the university had already developed; it will now address antisemitism alongside other forms of unlawful discrimination and walk participants through the often-blurred line between protected speech and conduct that can create a hostile campus environment.
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Stories From a Former Anti-Israel Activist: In a JPost podcast, former campus activist Taryn Thomas lifts up the curtain on the anti-Israel movement as she shares insights into how as a Stanford University
student she initially got swept up. She talks about the devastating impact of seeing a Nova Music Festival exhibit that ran so counter to the narratives she had seen about 10/7 until then, and how she ultimately reassessed her views to the point where she now encourages other students to question narratives, acknowledge nuance and understand how campus antisemitism affects Jewish students.
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Australia. Australian universities are about to get graded — literally — on how they handle antisemitism, protests, encampments and campus safety. A new government-backed antisemitism “report card”
will assess whether schools respond quickly and effectively to incidents that have made campus life feel unsafe, isolating or outright hostile for Jewish students. The criteria focus on protest rules, complaints processes and whether universities actually enforce their policies. This effort is part of a national plan on antisemitism developed by Special Envoy Jillian Segal, which the government endorsed following the deadly attack on the Bondi Beach Hannukah celebration, which killed 15.
DEEPER: Australia’s approach echoes ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card, which has helped pushed universities in the U.S. to follow through and turn promises into data, accountability and real outcomes. | 
