Ivy League falls short for Jewish students, according to new ADL ‘report card’

Harvard and Princeton University both received ‘F’ grades for lack of a response to antisemitism on campus.

By Dion J. Pierre, The Algemeiner

Ivy League universities in the US have performed abysmally in addressing antisemitism on their campuses this academic year, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) first ever Campus Antisemitism Report Card.

Released on Thursday, just weeks before the end of spring term, the report’s grades are based on two criteria, “What’s Happening on Campus” and “University Policies and Responsive Action.” In total, the ADL graded 85 colleges and universities across the US, only two of which — Brandeis University and Elon University — merited “As.”

No Ivy League school earned better than a “C,” a mark awarded to Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Five others — Columbia University, Brown University, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania — received “D’s” while Harvard University and Princeton University received failing “F” grades.

“Every campus should get an A — that’s not grade inflation, that’s the minimum that every group on every campus expects,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said in a press release announcing the report.

“They deserve a learning environment free from antisemitism and hate. But that hasn’t been the experience with antisemitism running rampant on campus since even before October 7.”

He added, “At a time when antisemitic incidents on campus are at historic levels, administrators need to adopt new policies to address this scourge and have the willingness to enforce existing codes of conduct to ensure all students are safe.”

Harvard’s receiving an “F” comes amid a period described as a low point in its history.

America’s oldest and, arguably, most important institution of higher education, it has since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel been accused of fostering a culture of racial grievance, academic dishonesty, and antisemitism.

As scenes of Hamas terrorists abducting children and desecrating dead bodies circulated worldwide, 31 student groups at Harvard, led by the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) issued a statement blaming Israel for the attack and accusing the Jewish state of operating an “open air prison” in Gaza, despite that the Israeli military withdrew from the territory in 2005.

In the weeks that followed, anti-Zionists stormed the campus screaming “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “globalize the intifada,” terrorizing Jewish students and preventing some from attending class.

In November, a mob of anti-Zionists — including Ibrahim Bharmal, editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review — followed, surrounded, and intimidated a Jewish student. “Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!” the crush of people screamed in a call-and-response chant into the ears of the student who —as seen in the footage — was forced to duck and dash the crowd to free himself from the cluster of bodies that encircled him.

Princeton University has also had its share of antisemitic outrages, the ADL noted in its report.

Last year, Mohammed el-Kurd, who has falsely accused Israelis of eating the organs of Palestinians spoke on campus.

After Oct. 7, a student’s illustration of an Israeli flag was desecrated and anti-Zionist groups have roamed the campus chanting “long live the intifada,” a call for acts of terrorism targeting innocent civilians.

In the fall of 2023, the school was criticized for teaching Right to Maim, a book accused by academics of being “pseudo-scholarship” for trafficking in antisemitic blood libels rooted in medieval conspiracies that Jews murdered Christian children and drank their blood during Passover.

Because of these incidents and more, Princeton University is being investigated by the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

“It’s time for campuses to step up and protect our children from the hate and antisemitism that has proliferated on college campuses across the country this year,” Emma Law-Oppman, an administrator of the fast growing Facebook group Mothers Against College Antisemitism (M.A.C.A.), said on Thursday.

“It is our hope that ADL’s Report Card serves as a much needed wake up call for schools to prioritize creating a safe and welcoming environment for all students. At M.A.C.A, our members are fully prepared and energized to demand a massive change from school leadership across the country.”

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