The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced Thursday they will develop report cards detailing the handling of antisemitism across campuses.
The “report cards” will be published “every spring,” according to an ADL press release. The goal of these reports is to show students, parents, alumni, college staff and others how individual colleges and universities are handling antisemitism in comparison to one another.
“This new tool is part of a series of measures ADL is taking, not only to sound the alarm about widespread increases in antisemitic incidents, but to implement a range of activities to ensure the safety of Jewish students on campus,” the ADL said.
The tool uses a variety of tests to assess the school environment, the ADL stated. Data will include student surveys, reports of incidents on campuses and input from campus experts and partners, the ADL explained. (RELATED: Universities Are Seeing An Enormous Spike In Antisemitism. Here’s Why).
The ADL plans to send a letter in January to numerous campuses with significant Jewish populations. The letter will inform them of the assessment and will ask for information regarding their actions, if any, to provide safety for Jewish pupils and confront antisemitic activity on campus, the press release said.
Initial data from these report cards is expected to be released to help 2024 freshman college students, as well as their parents, with deciding their college commitments, the ADL stated.
ADL announces new ‘report card’ to grade universities on antisemitism https://t.co/WUKXXbsbXy
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“The report card will enable students, parents, alumni and other stakeholders to understand whether and how campuses are meeting this commitment,” the ADL said, referencing the letter the civil rights group sent to campus presidents in December 2023 calling for no tolerance of antisemitism. In the letter, the organization pointed out what they called “an unprecedented rise of antisemitism in the U.S.” following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“Colleges and universities must commit to No Tolerance for Antisemitism, and they must take clear, decisive action steps to achieve that. ADL’s new ratings system will help students and parents to rank schools in a comparative fashion, but it also will offer an opportunity for campuses to demonstrate what they are doing right,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of ADL, said.