Falling Through the Cracks How School Policies Deny Jewish Students Equal Protection from Antisemitism

Key Findings:

This study investigates the institutional structures that have given license to unabated proliferation of anti-Zionist motivated harassment on U.S. campuses. It locates its source in the unfair and inadequate treatment of Jewish and pro-Israel students under most schools’ behavioral policies. It also highlights the adverse impact of the differential treatment of antisemitic harassment on Jewish and pro-Israel students.

Notably, several disparities were found between harassment policies and codes of conduct at the examined colleges and universities. Verbal abuse was not included in the descriptions of prohibited behavior in nearly one-quarter of the codes of conduct examined. Less than 40% of the codes described harassment as limiting to a student's ability to participate in campus life. Moreover, whilst harassment policies usually included robust protection against retaliation, approximately half of the codes did not mention retaliation protection.

Furthermore, certain codes expressed that harassment of "protected" identity groups would face more severe punitive measures than similar behavior against "unprotected" students. In terms of administrative handling, a significant majority of the schools assigned complaints from "protected" identity groups to a specialized office dealing exclusively with harassment and discrimination. On the other hand, complaints involving students outside these groups were managed by the same office responsible for all student conduct complaints. No schools ensured that "unprotected" students received administrative consideration and response to harassing behavior equivalent to that guaranteed for "protected" students.

On campuses where student identity influences administrative responses to harassment, the defamatory portrayal of Jews and Zionists as powerful oppressors has made it challenging for Jewish and pro-Israel students to receive adequate protection. University officials tend to respond promptly and vigorously to harassment targeting certain groups while downplaying or ignoring similar acts directed at Jewish and pro-Israel students.

Policies often fail to recognize anti-Zionist harassment as fundamentally harmful to a Jewish student's ethnicity and religion. This bias poses obstacles for victims seeking recourse under university harassment policies and student codes of conduct. Addressing the issue requires guaranteeing "protected" status for Jewish students even in cases of anti-Zionism motivated harassment.

The researchers recommend implementing a single standard to evaluate objectionable behavior, considering language and actions unacceptable regardless of the perpetrator's motivation or the victim's identity. Proposed policies under review at Harvard University serve as a model for adopting such an approach.

Recommendations for school administrators, college and university consumers, and state and federal legislators include:

1.  Administrators should establish policies that treat harassing behavior equally for all students, regardless of motivation or identity. 

2.  University consumers and donors must demand equal protection from harassment for all students, and condition decisions regarding a school on its ability to guarantee this.

3.  Legislators should consider enacting legislation akin to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, establishing a clear legal process and robust enforcement mechanisms to ensure equal and adequate protection for all students in state and federally funded schools against behavior hindering their participation or benefit from educational services.