Jewish students, leaders demand tracking system for antisemitism incidents on college campuses

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Jewish leaders and students called on the Biden administration Tuesday to set up a tracking system for complaints of antisemitism on college campuses under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

They called for the Department of Education to establish a Zero Tolerance National Reporting System that would regulate how the Office of Civil Rights enforces Title VI anti-discrimination provisions and set up a national process for complaints.

Rabbi David Markowitz is executive vice president of the Jewish identity and continuity organization OLAMI, which is spearheading the effort.

“One of the things that we heard consistently was that [students] were submitting all kinds of reports, incidents, complaints to universities and other places and simply not feeling supported, not feeling heard, not feeling like it was being addressed,” Rabbi Markowitz told The Washington Times.

He cited the case of Harvard Divinity School graduate student Shabbos Kestenbaum, who said his 40 emailed complaints to Harvard’s antisemitism task force “got zero responses.”

“What is exactly the value of an antisemitism task force if when you email them 40 times, you don’t get a single response?” the rabbi said. “We can’t even get involved in the question of are the responses sufficient, are they being handled appropriately, if there’s simply no response.”

Rabbi Markowitz said a formal tracking system for complaints of antisemitism would offer better enforcement by the Education Department.

“If the universities would simply report up to the Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Education, then there would be transparency and accountability,” he said. “The whole system would be clear, we can hold everybody accountable and you don’t need to open an investigation. It [would] be apparent students are submitting all these complaints. [If] the universities aren’t doing anything, then the Department of Education can hold them accountable.”

Reports of verbal and physical attacks on Jews in the U.S. have skyrocketed since the Oct. 7 raid on southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The American Jewish Committee reported last month that 63% of U.S. Jews said they feel “less secure than a year ago” and 4 in 10 college students said. they had experienced antisemitism on campus.

Logan Swerdloff, a 20-year-old junior at the State University of New York at Binghamton, said her school had been firm on supporting its Jewish students, but the reactions of supporters of Palestinians were vehement and surprising.

“I had never experienced antisemitism before October 7,” the economics major said. “I was shocked. I really hadn’t, and I’m so privileged to say that and so lucky to say that.”

Ms. Swerdloff said she had to change her name on a social media platform after posting a pro-Israel message following the attacks.

“I spoke out and within maybe a day, I was getting comments of swastikas, I was getting private messages of people telling me that they wanted me dead, that they knew where I live. They were going to come to my house and kill me; that they knew I went to Binghamton,” she said.

Rep. Nancy Mace, South Carolina Republican, appeared Tuesday at a news conference supporting the tracking system proposal.

Ms. Mace, who is not Jewish, said the surge of antisemitism on campuses requires “decisive steps from these institutions to combat antisemitism and Jewish hate rather than mere lip service. … It’s time for higher education to prioritize real change and ensure a zero-tolerance policy against antisemitism.”

In a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, she said “it is critical we provide unqualified support for Jewish students to live free from fear.”

A spokeswoman for the Education Department did not respond to a request for comment.