Schools boost antisemitism grades in ADL report but students say hostility persists

FIRST ON FOX: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its 2026 Campus Antisemitism Report Card, revealing a discrepancy betwixt universities' improved policies and students' experiences with anti-Jewish hate.

The study paper assessed 150 colleges and universities utilizing 32 criteria that fell into 3 categories: administrative policies, Jewish beingness connected campus, field behaviour and clime concerns. The fig of colleges and universities receiving As and Bs connected their study cards much than doubled since 2024, going from 23.5% to 58%. Additionally, the ADL noted that grades of 48% of the 135 schools assessed successful 2025 improved successful 2026. The people organisation among the colleges and universities included 23 As, 64 Bs, 53 Cs, 6 Ds and 4 Fs.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt credited 3 things for the improved grades among colleges and universities: improved policies connected campus, oversight from the Trump medication and Republican lawmakers and unit from extracurricular organizations.

"The information is that campuses are present enforcing their policies and driving amended practices. It's improved. There's conscionable nary uncertainty that we've seen a scope of antithetic institutions recognize that extremism connected their campuses needs to beryllium confronted," Greenblatt told Fox News Digital.

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Dozens of George Washington University graduates wearing accepted Palestinian keffiyehs locomotion retired during President Ellen Granberg's commencement code connected the National Mall. The protestation called for a sanctuary campus, extortion of escaped speech, and divestment from companies supporting Israel's subject operations successful Gaza.  (Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The study details a bid of argumentation changes that look to align with Greenblatt’s appraisal of improved argumentation enforcement and implementation.

The ADL noted that arsenic of the work of its 2026 study card, "94% of the 150 schools assessed prohibit some unauthorized encampments and lawsuit disruptions connected campus, and the remaining 6% prohibit astatine slightest 1 of those." Additionally, 46% of the 150 schools explicitly notation antisemitism successful their non-discrimination oregon related policies. The enactment besides recovered that 54% of the schools it assessed person ceremonial entities dedicated to addressing antisemitism and supporting Jewish beingness connected campus.

The Trump medication and Republican governmental enactment person besides played a relation successful combating antisemitism connected campus, according to Greenblatt.

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Israeli flags hung by Jewish students and their supporters that were hung connected a railing were "bloodied" by Palestinian supporters who person a structure encampment connected the MIT campus. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

"The Trump administration, irrespective of wherever you basal connected the governmental spectrum, perfectly focused connected this issue. And guarantee that administrators understood they would look consequences for not doing better. By the way, not conscionable the Trump administration, I should accidental besides the House and Senate. So, there's been a grade of oversight connected campuses that simply wasn't the lawsuit before," helium added.

In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent letters to 60 universities nether probe for antisemitic favoritism and harassment. The DOE said the letters warned of imaginable consequences for institutions that violated Title VI. The universities that received letters were located crossed the state and included Ivy League institutions.

Beyond the enactment of the schoolhouse administrations and the government, the ADL's enactment besides played a relation successful improving the grades by providing "empirical fact-based, transparent" ways to clasp schools accountable and creating an inducement for them to improve, Greenblatt said.

Officials from American University, CUNY Brooklyn College and the University of Pennsylvania were quoted successful the ADL study praising the anti-hate organization's acquisition materials. CUNY Brooklyn College Vice President of Student Affairs Ron Jackson called the ADL Campus Webinar Series "invaluable," saying it "helped america measure wherever we basal and wherever we request to amended to code antisemitism efficaciously and advocator for a safer, much supportive field climate."

Despite the institutions' improved grades, students are inactive reporting experiencing oregon seeing anti-Jewish incidents connected campus.

The ADL recovered that astir fractional of each non-Jewish students, 48.3%, reported witnessing oregon experiencing anti-Jewish behaviour successful the past year. Additionally, the enactment recovered that astir 47.6% of non-Jewish students endorsed astatine slightest 1 anti-Jewish attitude, with much entrenched views concentrated successful a smaller subset, with 19.2% holding 3 oregon more. The findings travel from a January-February 2026 survey of 1,007 undergraduate students from crossed the U.S.

Palestinian flags are seen astir the encampment connected the field of Columbia University successful New York City connected April 23, 2024. Tensions flared betwixt pro-Palestinian pupil protesters and schoolhouse administrators astatine respective US universities connected April 22, arsenic in-person classes were cancelled and demonstrators arrested.  (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

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In the study connected non-Jewish students' perceptions of Jews and Israel, the ADL noted that "anti-Jewish bias is wide disposable connected campus." The enactment besides stated that astir students enactment organization action.

Greenblatt suggested that a large misconception of antisemitism that plagues universities is the thought that anti-Zionism is simply a governmental stance, alternatively than 1 of prejudice.

"The thought that anti-Zionism is conscionable a valid presumption is benignant of similar saying eugenics is simply a valid science. It is not... and anti-Zionism, this benignant of nihilistic presumption that Israel has nary close to beryllium and it should beryllium destroyed, that's not a legitimate, if you will, governmental philosophy. That's a look for inciting unit against people," the ADL CEO told Fox News Digital.

When asked astir the spread betwixt administrative enactment and students' experiences, Greenblatt emphasized the request to code module attitudes astir Judaism and Israel, arsenic good arsenic ensuring that schools are implementing the antisemitism grooming that they person claimed to adopt.

"Better policies and improved practices decidedly make an situation that is safer for Jewish oregon Zionist, oregon kids who enactment Israel, nevertheless they take to identify. That doesn't needfully mean though that the lived acquisition of each Jewish pupil is that overmuch better," Greenblatt told Fox News Digital.

"We request to marque definite that we proceed to code different areas similar the attitudes and the practices of faculty, which proceed to beryllium a problem. We request proceed to guarantee that issues of antisemitism taken seriously. Far excessively fewer students, contempt what the schools person said, person really been trained oregon gotten predisposition connected antisemitism," helium added.

Supporters of Palestine stitchery astatine Harvard University for a rally successful Cambridge, Massachusetts, connected Oct. 14, 2023, showing solidarity with Palestinians successful Gaza. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

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Greenblatt acknowledged that the basal of the occupation goes beyond the classroom, explaining that students whitethorn beryllium seeing antisemitic accusation oregon power online. He encouraged a "360 grade approach" to tackling antisemitism connected campuses, noting that it happens "in the classroom, successful the dorm, connected the quad" and online.

The ADL CEO warned that field advancement remains fragile, peculiarly arsenic the warfare with Iran rages. While determination has not been an detonation of antisemitic enactment connected campuses similar what was seen aft Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre, determination person been those who assertion that Israel pressured the U.S. into launching Operation Epic Fury. Greenblatt said helium is disquieted that the pervasive narratives online could soon marque their mode onto campus.

"Since the Iran warfare began conscionable implicit a week ago, we haven't seen the detonation of protests connected assemblage campuses that we saw aft 10/7. That's a bully thing. But we are seeing connected societal media and successful different online spaces a large woody of blaming of the Jewish authorities oregon the Jewish radical for this war," Greenblatt said. "I interest that arsenic this warfare goes on, blaming the Jewish authorities oregon the Jewish radical volition amplify and those voices volition turn louder. And it could lend to, again, Jewish individuals oregon Jewish institutions being targeted."

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Greenblatt, though, said that universities tin enactment to forestall different field flashpoint and quell tensions earlier unrest starts.

"University leaders person a immense relation to play successful this. University leaders person a captious relation to play to quell imaginable protests earlier they start," helium said. "I judge students person the close to workout escaped speech, state of assembly... But that doesn't mean that state of code is state to incite unit against your classmates."

While colleges person earned higher marks connected paper, the findings suggest that argumentation changes person not afloat eradicated antisemitism from field life. Leaders of acquisition institutions present look the situation of showing that caller policies interaction students.