This month, the presidents of three prominent universities were grilled by Congress over their lack of action on anti-Semitism on campus. Nationally, incidents of anti-Semitism on college campuses have increased 700% since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Seventy-three percent of college students have witnessed or experienced anti-Semitism on their campus this academic year. Although not new to DePaul’s campus, the number of anti-Semitic acts has increased recently: we have seen fliers promoting unsubstantiated accusations of mass murder — a medieval blood libel trope — and rallies in which students and colleagues chanted slogans demanding By eliminating Israel and the Jews.
Given these attacks and the mostly refusal of a panel of university presidents to condemn anti-Semitism, colleges and universities must mandate anti-Semitism training to address the structural anti-Semitism that exists in the academy.
Sociologists Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Califf found that two-thirds of colleges require diversity training for faculty. Several units in my colleges have added a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion assessment to our annual assessment. According to a New York Times report, nearly 50% of large universities require DEI data from faculty applicants. More than half of students (55.8%) in a recent Anti-Defamation League survey 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, dealing with difference, understanding the importance of equality and developing communication skills about ethnic and cultural groups. These programs focus on populations identified by race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, national origin, and sexual orientation.
Most colleges and universities do not include anti-Semitism in their diversity training. Only 18.1% of college students in the ADL survey reported receiving any training in anti-Semitism. One reason is that Titles VI and IX prohibit civil rights violations 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 issued explicit instructions to colleges and universities to address anti-Semitism. In May, the Ministry of Education launched an anti-Semitism awareness campaign. In November, the White House announced an initiative to address the spike in anti-Semitism in higher education as well.
Some existing DEI courses across the country have been called out for their explicit anti-Jewish stances. One of my university’s mandatory DEI trainings began by talking about the “Jewish-Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people,” a statement rooted in memes, not fact. When complaints were made to the university, the investigation found that “no reasonable person” would find such language problematic. As one colleague wrote, perhaps our university does not support us.
I’m not advocating for eliminating DEI officers or their training, I’m advocating for them to be expanded to be truly inclusive. This year, I founded the DePaul Jewish Faculty and Faculty Alliance to advocate for the campus community. We met with our Equity, Inclusion, and Leadership offices only to be told that “everyone is welcome here” and that “anti-Semitism awareness programs are not available on campus.” When we presented a list of free courses created by the ADL, American University, and other reputable sources, we were greeted with silence.
When faculty members identify a problem and offer a solution and are repeatedly fired, the message they absorb is that Jews do not matter. And while our faculty may have the capacity to operate within the shadow of structural anti-Semitism, we have Jewish students who have found our campus to be an unwelcoming and even dangerous place. As faculty, we are morally obligated to protect them and to speak out.
Recognizing and working to defeat structural racism, ageism, ableism, sexism, sexism, and sexism are key features of DEI work. But structural anti-Semitism is never questioned, never brought up, never protested.
Perhaps it is easier to ignore a small percentage that does not exceed 2.4% of the US population. However, it is time to change that and teach anti-Semitism training in all colleges and universities.
Craig M. Klugman is the Vincent de Paul Professor of Bioethics and Health Humanities and also founder and president of the Jewish Faculty Alliance at DePaul University in Chicago. He wrote this for the Chicago Tribune.
As incidents of anti-Semitism continue to occur on college campuses, there is a growing call for colleges to take proactive measures to address and prevent this form of discrimination. In recent years, there have been numerous reports of swastikas being drawn on campus buildings, hateful graffiti targeting Jewish students, and verbal harassment directed at members of the Jewish community. In response to these troubling developments, many believe that colleges should require training to address anti-Semitism in order to create a safer and more inclusive environment for all students. This article will explore the arguments for implementing such training and the potential benefits it could bring to college campuses.