The mission of the university—knowledge, wisdom, citizenship, and judgment—should make it an inhospitable place for antisemitism to thrive.
The search for knowledge documents that Jews, historically, have been oppressed worldwide. The cultivation of wisdom teaches us that members of various identity groups are not homogeneous. The habits of good citizenship reinforce that political tolerance leads to peace and prosperity. And the development of reasoned judgment recognizes that all humans have inherent, equal dignity.
Yet at colleges and universities nationwide, antisemitism has grown—as documented in this issue. The ADL reported that in 2024, 18 percent of all antisemitic incidents occurred on college campuses. How can this be?
In reality, many universities long ago abandoned the Enlightenment norms and intellectual virtues that fostered wisdom, citizenship, and judgment. In some disciplines, even knowledge itself has become suspect. Reason, evidence, intellectual humility, and freedom of thought have too often been replaced by emotion, subjectivity, and tribalism.
A principal culprit behind this degradation of intellectual life is groupthink. According to a 2026 study by the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, “intense, uncompromising hostility toward Israel is a minority position among American undergraduates. Twenty percent of undergraduates hold principled views that are intensely unfavorable toward both the Israeli government and its people.” However, the voices of those students are the loudest, and often, according to the same study, able to “shape the climate of an entire campus through protests, class disruptions, and other forms of activism fueled by their passion for the issue and their conviction in their command of the facts.”
In reality, many universities long ago abandoned the Enlightenment norms and intellectual virtues that fostered wisdom, citizenship, and judgment. In some disciplines, even knowledge itself has become suspect.
The absence of open argument engendered by groupthink and self-censorship gives students the false impression that there is a consensus around issues that are actually quite controversial. Such groupthink also encourages those who hold the accepted opinion to become overconfident and unreflective. This dogmatic environment is anathema to higher education.
The result is a campus climate in which students may adopt strong views without much thought. For example, according to the Brandeis survey, “the majority of undergraduates endorse the claim that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” despite also admitting to having “little knowledge or interest in the conflict altogether.” The authors of the survey “have documented ways in which hostility to Israel contributes to antisemitism on campus.”
Viewpoint diversity, as well as civil and civic discourse, offers a way out of this cycle of campus groupthink.
Campuses have an obligation to ensure that students hear more than antisemitic talking points. They must ensure that students encounter heterodox voices on the issue of Israel as well as speakers who will reinforce the equal dignity of all individuals. Students and faculty who disagree with loud anti-Israel invective or protests should speak up themselves. Just a few brave dissidents could be the beginning of a virtuous cycle of true open debate and inquiry.
Likewise, universities must sponsor and encourage both civil and civic discourse. Civil in the sense that students learn to reason, discuss, and argue productively with others with whom they disagree. Civic in the sense that students grapple with questions about how we live, work, and govern together in a diverse, pluralistic society.
Likewise, universities must sponsor and encourage both civil and civic discourse.
Universities cannot single-handedly fix culture, but they can recommit to the Enlightenment norms and intellectual virtues that cultivate thoughtful, reasonable, objective, and humble practices. Doing so would go a long way toward minimizing, and eventually eliminating, antisemitism on campus.
Jenna Robinson is president of the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal.