This survey establishes that antisemitism remains a consistent and serious concern for Jewish students on college campuses across the United States. Their concern about antisemitism can impede their ability to participate in classes, join clubs, and display their Jewish identity proudly.
There have been an alarming number of reported antisemitic attacks and incidents on college campuses in recent years, but this survey suggests the true extent is even more alarming, as most incidents and microaggressions go unreported.
Within the last year, nearly one-third of Jewish students personally experienced antisemitism directed at them on campus or by a member of the campus community. The most common forms of antisemitism were offensive comments or slurs online or in person. For those who experienced offensive comments or slurs directed at them in person, 79 percent reported that it happened to them more than once.
Additionally, in the last year, 31 percent of Jewish students witnessed antisemitic activity oncampus that was not directed at them. The most common experience was witnessing antisemitism in symbols, logos, and posters on campus, observed by 18 percent of respondents.
Consistent with other victims of hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents, most Jewish studentswho experience antisemitism do not report it. Three-quarters of respondents who personally experienced antisemitism did not report it to anyone.
Fifteen percent of Jewish college students reported that they felt the need to hide their Jewish identity from others on campus.
Contrary to politicized narratives that often highlight antisemitism as stemming only from oneend of the political spectrum or another, the Jewish students surveyed expressed concern about antisemitism from the political left, center, and right, though to somewhat varying degrees.
The survey also examined Jewish students’ experience of campus climate more broadly. Sevenout of 10 students reported feeling safe on campus as a Jew.The results of this survey also show a correlation between participation in Jewish life and feeling safe on campus.4 percent of students who participated in Jewish activities reported feeling safe on campus as a Jew-compared to 65 percent of students who did not participate in Jewish activities.
Nearly half of Jewish students want changes to be made in how antisemitism is addressed ontheir campus. Overall, 32 percent want student governments to do more, 27 percent want campus employees to do more, and 25 percent want campus faculty to do more.
This survey was conducted by College Pulse, an online survey and analytics company dedicated to understanding college students, on behalf of ADL and Hillel International. The survey instrument was adapted from Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative student survey.
This survey was conducted online between July 7th and August 21st, 2021 and included 756 self-identified Jewish undergraduate students who are currently enrolled in 220 different four-year colleges and universities across the United States. This sample was drawn from College Pulse’s Undergraduate Student Panel, which includes over 400,000 diverse students from more than 1,000 colleges and universities across all 50 states. The survey results were adjusted based on demographic distributions from the 2017 Current Population Survey to reduce the effects of non-response bias and appropriately weight the sample based on age, race and ethnicity, and gender. The margin of error for this survey is ± four percent.
