We must stop the rise of antisemitism in American schools

Nearly 18 months have passed since the terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 civilians, including Americans. Rather than push back against senseless hatred of Jews, too many schools have allowed antisemitism to run rampant throughout America in one appalling act after another since then.

Where administrators have failed to rein in bad actors within their schools, the Trump administration is stepping up and acting swiftly to hold those in power accountable. Within his first two weeks in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to combat antisemitism nationwide. Turns out he wasn’t bluffing.

Over the course of several months in 2024, students formed anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University and took over a building on campus where they trapped and assaulted a custodian. These students barricaded the doors, smashed windows, and demanded that the university divest from Israel. One student declared in a video that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”

Columbia failed to control the situation, and students at other universities noticed. Similar encampments and protests followed on campuses throughout the country. Incidents occurred at Yale, Harvard, Rutgers, and many other universities. There are reports that some Jewish students were even assaulted on campuses last year. Hillel International reported that antisemitic incidents at colleges have increased by 700% since October 7, 2023.

Where the previous administration failed to take proper action against these universities over the last four years, Trump is using the federal government’s authority to enact positive change to ensure the safety of students.

Earlier this month, Trump stripped Columbia University of $400 million in federal funding for failing to defend Jewish students last year. The Trump administration demanded that Columbia enforce disciplinary policies, ban masks as a form of concealment or intimidation, create a definition of antisemitism, and place the Middle East, South Asian, and African Studies department under an academic receivership.

The university caved just a few weeks later to the president’s demands ensuring stronger protections for Jewish students.

The Education Department (ED) has additionally launched investigations into 60 universities regarding antisemitic activities on campuses. ED sent each of these universities a letter demanding they “protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.”

While the Trump administration is proactive in handling antisemitism, the source of the issue cannot be ignored. Most, if not all, of the universities that ED is investigating have a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) department or at least did before last year’s presidential election.

DEI creates a breeding ground for antisemitic activity. The Heritage Foundation published a report in 2021 that found DEI staff at universities typically express anti-Israel attitudes. The think tank studied the social media feeds of 741 DEI staff at 65 universities. Out of their posts about Israel, 96% were negative.

DEI orthodoxy generally accepts the idea that the United States and other Western nations were created on the perceived evil of colonialism. “The real issue on campuses isn’t antisemitism but the anti-Western ethos that has colonized large swaths of the curriculum,” Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute explained. She added that Israel, by extension, “is cast as the Western settler-colonialist oppressor par excellence.”

The Trump administration appears to understand this. Trump has signed executive orders for schools to eliminate DEI from their curricula, hiring, and admissions processes or else potentially lose their federal funding. He is following through on that threat.

ED has launched investigations into more than 50 universities this month for using “racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities” and “allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.” The administration then paused $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania for allowing men to compete in women’s sports.

Trump and his administration are, thankfully, serious about eliminating antisemitism from the source out of our nation’s education system. Jewish students have the right to attend any American university without fearing for their physical safety. Bigotry has no place in any school.

If schools continue to promote DEI or allow antisemitism, then they rightfully should lose their federal funding.

Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter at Parents Defending Education.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline, and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!