DOJ Lawsuit and Rising Campus Antisemitism Concerns

The Department of Justice has initiated legal action against UCLA, accusing the university of failing to address discrimination and violence against Jewish and Israeli students. This stems from a protest in 2024 where agitators allegedly assaulted and used pepper spray on students.

Human rights attorney Brooke Goldstein has noted the politicization of antisemitism. Since the beginning of the 2023 Israel-Hamas conflict, universities have been at the forefront of national debates on the issue. A report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) highlights that while campus protests have drawn attention, classroom activities have received less scrutiny.

The report details how some professors and teaching assistants have allegedly injected anti-Israel sentiments into their curriculum. Accusations include offering extra credit for attending anti-Israel events and targeting Jewish and Israeli students. The ADL emphasizes that such conduct within academic settings is harder for outsiders to monitor.

The Anti-Defamation League cautions that antisemitism is present beyond campus protests and exists in classrooms too.

In early 2025, the ADL partnered with Hillel International and College Pulse to release a report indicating that 27.3% of Jewish students observed antisemitic behaviors by faculty. They pointed out that exposure to such rhetoric contributes to perceptions of a hostile campus environment.

One highlighted incident involved a course at the University of California, Berkeley, where students were allegedly offered extra credit for attending anti-Israel events. UC Berkeley’s Assistant Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof stated that there was no record of such offers.

The ADL report provides more examples from across the University of California system. In October 2023, a teaching assistant at UC Berkeley reportedly provided extra credit for participation in an anti-Israel protest. Similar allegations arose at UCLA, where a teaching assistant encouraged students to attend a teach-in on the situation in Palestine.

The ADL has also documented instances of students being singled out. At Columbia University, their Task Force on Antisemitism reported instances of students facing bias in classrooms. An Israeli student was questioned about settler colonialism, and another student, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, was labeled as a murderer by an instructor.

Columbia University’s Task Force made several recommendations to address these issues. The university has committed to implementing measures to support an inclusive environment for Jewish students, as highlighted by a statement from the then-acting President, Claire Shipman.

The ADL argues that when professors engage in biased behavior, it has a significant impact due to their influence on students. This contributes to an unsafe environment for both Jewish and non-Jewish students.

The ADL urges educational institutions to adopt comprehensive approaches to counter antisemitism and ensure a safe space for all students.