Understanding Hostility to Jews and Israel Among Non-Jewish Students

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In the wake of the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7, a wave of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hostility erupted on college campuses across the US. Multiple research studies, buttressed by analyses conducted by task forces at host of universities, have documented the impact on Jewish students. Some fear for their safety, many feel silenced, and others are distraught at their school’s unwillingness to enforce their code of conduct. We know the problem is serious, but what can and should be done about it?

Join Prof. Leonard Saxe, Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, for a presentation about what universities, students, faculty and parents should consider when thinking about this crisis on campus.  Prof. Saxe will frame his comments around his new study of antisemitism on campus that surveys nearly 4000 students at 60 US colleges and universities.  Rabbi Dan Smokler will offer reactions and his assessment of how to address antisemitism on campuses. 

The program will be held just as campuses across the U.S. are preparing to welcome students back to campus. The hope is to have a communal conversation, informed by the latest research, about what universities, and each of us, need to do to make campuses safe places for Jewish students and fulfill their educational missions.

Professor Leonard Saxe is an American social psychologist whose work focuses on sociology of religion, American Jews and the American Jewish community.

Rabbi Daniel Smokler is the Chief Innovation Officer for the Office of Innovation, an innovation laboratory with expertise in rabbinic and spiritual leadership, Jewish learning, and community building.