Antisemitism is taking over college campuses

OPINION:

In the months since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, college campuses across America have become a hotbed of hate and antisemitism. Students have made headlines the world over for engaging in violent protests calling for the destruction of Israel. Reports of antisemitic incidents have reached record highs. As president of Accuracy in Media, a watchdog organization focusing on higher education, I have seen this proliferation of hate occur in real-time.

We have traversed the country over the past few months, visiting more than a dozen universities. The schools we chose to visit all had one thing in common: Their university leaders were either unable or unwilling to protect Jewish students, discipline the most radical offenders, and forcefully condemn antisemitism on campus. In some extreme cases, faculty members themselves engaged in troubling or outright antisemitic behavior.

The goal of our cross-country campaign has been clear: To hold antisemites accountable and expose their hateful views to the world. To do so, we deployed mobile billboards to 13 campuses, purchased over 400 website domains with the names of the worst offenders, built websites, and launched geographically targeted ads calling university trustees to act. We also launched www.CheckYourHate.com, a website asking potential employers to use this comprehensive database to ensure they do not hire antisemites.

Our larger mission, however, is twofold. While combating antisemitism is critical, we are also working to address the source of the problem. It has become increasingly clear that diversity, equity and inclusion curricula in K-12 schools are the root of this concerning trend. Our fight against antisemitism is, at its core, also a fight against the harmful ideologies taught through DEI.

When we launched our first mobile billboard at Harvard, we believed it would be a targeted event focused on the students who wrote a vile letter blaming Israel for the Oct. 7 attack. But we quickly learned that it was not an isolated occurrence as antisemitic incidents skyrocketed. According to a report released by the Anti-Defamation League, “incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism” in 2023 increased 140% from the year prior. The immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack was even worse. From last October to January, antisemitic incidents increased 361% from the same period one year earlier.

We had deployed targeted mobile billboards in the past, but never so many in such rapid succession and in so many different cities. The need for action was growing. The statistics were alarming, but the personal stories we heard directly from students hit even closer to home.

An Israeli student at Columbia University told us that she was driven out of her dorm room because she feared for her safety. She was repeatedly verbally harassed and told she deserved to go to hell. Pro-Hamas students banged on her door at all hours until she no longer felt safe. Although she reported the harassment to the dean and her dorm resident adviser, the harassment continued, and no one was penalized. She was ultimately forced to move.

Another Israeli student who served in the Israeli military was repeatedly called an oppressor and told he did not belong in the United States or Israel. Other students accused him of “murdering and butchering children.” This is ironic, given that it was Hamas — a terrorist organization these students openly support — who slaughtered children.

At Yale University, a Jewish student was reportedly stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag for wearing a Star of David necklace.

Our mobile billboards were vandalized, and our staff was repeatedly harassed. I was “swatted” more than 10 times, with armed police officers showing up at my home after receiving anonymous calls from those wishing to do me and my family harm.

Yet the students responsible for these antisemitic incidents have faced no consequences. That is why our Antisemitism Accountability Project must continue. At Harvard University, our billboards roamed the campus, highlighting Harvard President Claudine Gay’s failures. We pressured the board of trustees to call for her resignation. The day she announced her intent to step down, we sent U-Haul trucks to her official residence to help her move out.

Northwestern University President Michael Schill made headlines after he caved to campus protesters. Rather than disciplining the students responsible, Mr. Schill agreed to several of their radical demands, including funding full scholarships to Palestinian students. Shortly thereafter, we deployed billboards demanding his resignation.

A week later, we also deployed billboards at the commencement ceremony at the University of California, Los Angeles, to call for Chancellor Gene Block’s resignation after protests on campus turned violent and he failed to intervene.

In 2022, nine student groups at the University of California, Berkeley, Law School banned pro-Israel speakers from attending or speaking at university events. Two weeks ago, we deployed billboards at the law school commencement ceremony to remind students that there is no statute of limitations on antisemitism. These billboards also served as a notice to potential employers looking to hire Berkeley Law graduates. If university leaders do not hold these students accountable, we will.

Although summer is here and many of these students are back home for the next few months, the Antisemitism Accountability Project will continue. We are committed to rooting out and exposing antisemitism anywhere it exists and stopping the spread of hate and intolerance by fighting DEI in K-12 schools.

A growing number of state governments have recognized the threat posed by DEI and passed laws banning this curriculum and others like it in public schools. Over the past year and a half, the Antisemitism Accountability Project has conducted several undercover investigations into some states to verify whether schools complied with the new regulations. In Ohio, Utah, Indiana and Texas, these investigations revealed that teachers and administrators were subverting the law to keep DEI in schools.

These investigations are a key component of our Antisemitism Accountability Campaign. At the K-12 level, the Antisemitism Accountability Project will continue to sound the alarm on school districts that refuse to implement anti-DEI laws and on the teachers and administrators who promote these hateful ideologies. The last few months proved how damaging DEI can be, but it is not too late to change the tide.

We will continue to fight until the leaders of this hateful movement are held accountable, until teachers and faculty take responsibility for their failures, and until Jewish students can attend classes without fearing for their safety.

• Adam Guillette is president of Accuracy in Media. Accuracy in Media uses investigative journalism and cultural activism to expose corruption and hold bad public policy actors accountable. Previously, he launched the Florida chapter of Americans for Prosperity and served as vice president of Project Veritas. Since 2004, Mr. Guillette has served as distinguished faculty member for the Leadership Institute.