Colleges should require training to address antisemitism
This month, the presidents of three prominent universities were grilled by Congress about their lack of action on campus antisemitism. Nationally, antisemitic campus incidents have increased by 700% since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. Seventy-three percent of college students have witnessed or experienced antisemitism on their campus this academic year. Although not new to my campus at DePaul, the number of antisemitic acts has increased recently: We have seen flyers touting unproven accusations of mass murder — the medieval blood libel trope — and rallies where students and colleagues have chanted slogans calling for the elimination of Israel and Jews. Given these attacks and a panel of university presidents who mostly refused to condemn antisemitism, colleges and universities must mandate anti-antisemitism training to address the existing structural antisemitism in the academy.
Sociologists Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev found that two-thirds of colleges require diversity training of their faculty. Many units in my college have added a diversity, equity and inclusion assessment to our evaluation. According to a New York Times report, nearly 50% of large universities require DEI statements of faculty applicants. More than half of students (55.8%) in a recent survey done by the Anti-Defamation League had completed DEI training.
Diversity training often includes examining one’s assumptions, recognizing one’s biases (explicit, implicit and unconscious), understanding microaggressions, promoting cultural awareness, learning about structural discrimination, engaging with difference, comprehending the importance of equity and developing communication skills around racial and cultural populations. These programs focus on populations that identify by race, ethnicity, gender, sex, national origin and sexual orientation.
Most colleges and universities do not include antisemitism in their diversity training. Only 18.1% of college students in the ADL survey stated that they had any anti-antisemitism training. One reason is that Titles VI and IX prohibit violations of civil rights in higher education, but these federal laws did not include religious categories when they were enacted. That changed in 2004 when the U.S. Department of Education raised concerns about religious discrimination. Only in the past six months has the federal government explicitly instructed colleges and universities to address antisemitism. In May, the Department of Education released an antisemitism awareness campaign. In November, the White House announced an initiative to address the sudden rise in antisemitism in higher education as well.
Some existing DEI trainings across the country have been called out for their explicit anti-Jewish positions. One mandated DEI training at my university began by talking about an “Israeli Jewish genocide of Palestinian people,” a statement rooted in memes and not fact. When complaints were filed with the university, the investigation found that “no reasonable person” would find such language problematic. As one colleague has written, our university may not have our back.
I am not calling for the elimination of DEI officers or trainings, but rather their expansion to be truly inclusive. This year, I founded the DePaul Jewish Faculty-Staff Alliance to advocate for my campus community. We have met with our offices of equity and inclusion and leadership only to be told that “everyone is welcome here” and that “antisemitism awareness programs are not available on campus.” When we provided a list of free trainings created by the ADL, American University and other reputable sources, we were greeted with silence.
When faculty members have identified a problem and provided a solution, only to be dismissed repeatedly, the take-home message is that Jews don’t count. And while faculty may have the fortitude to function under structural antisemitism, we have Jewish students who have found our campus an unwelcoming and even dangerous place. As faculty, we are ethically obligated to protect them and speak out.
Recognizing and working to defeat structural racism, ageism, ableism, heterosexism, sexism and genderism are key features of DEI work. But structural antisemitism is never questioned, never raised and never rallied against.
Perhaps it is easier to ignore a paltry 2.4% of the U.S. population. However, it is time for that to change and for anti-antisemitism training to be taught at all colleges and universities.