Anti-Semitism Continues to Surge on College Campuses

SAN FRANCISCO--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The Institute for Jewish & Community Research (IJCR) announced the release of The UnCivil University: Intolerance on College Campuses, Revised Edition. The Revised Edition revisits rising levels of campus anti-Semitism and the corrosion of university norms detailed in the first edition.

“Jewish and other students are embattled and the university system remains incapable of responding”

Released in 2005, The UnCivil University exposed how American Universities had become politicized institutions; where ideological bias trumps good scholarship, protest drowns out reasoned debate, and stakeholders fail to live up to their responsibilities. Within this environment, the twin ideologies of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism have flourished as a prime example of the systemic ills afflicting the university.

The Revised Edition shows that universities have largely failed to reform. Anti-Israel propagandists continue to target college campuses, and intimidation of Jewish students and faculty go unaddressed. “Jewish and other students are embattled and the university system remains incapable of responding,” explains co-author Aryeh Weinberg. “There is no quick fix to the problem and we have to be careful not to let our concern fall victim to short attention spans.” The findings of the Revised Edition underscore the need for university stakeholders, including the federal government, to fulfill their roles in helping the university reassert its core values.

Based on these findings, IJCR has launched an initiative to address campus anti-Semitism. Initiative Director Kenneth L. Marcus explains, “The federal government is failing in its duty to protect college students from anti-Semitic harassment. We are calling for Congress and the President to act.” Marcus, served as Staff Director of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (2004-08).

Free copies of The UnCivil University: Revised Edition are available to members of the media for review. Also, a free downloadable executive summary and a link to purchase the book are available at www.UnCivilUniversity.org.

The Institute for Jewish & Community Research (IJCR) analyzes a broad range of issues including racial and religious identity, philanthropy, and higher education. The Institute is an independent, non-partisan think tank, and provides innovative research and pragmatic policy analyses to Jewish and other communities around the world. http://www.JewishResearch.org