Johns Hopkins University (JHU) has 450 Jewish undergraduate students, comprising 8% of the undergraduate student body, and there are 200 Jewish graduate students, representing 8% of the graduate student population. There is a campus Hillel and Chabad, as well as Jewish Greek life organizations.

What’s Happening on Campus?

In recent years, Hopkins has had antisemitic incidents reported on campus.

In 2020, a teaching assistant posted on Twitter (now known as X) asking whether they should grade exams from Zionists differently and used a poll to solicit responses. More recently, students have reported being targeted with antisemitic slurs, and in February 2023, a mezuzah was reportedly torn from the doorframe of a dorm room. Since October 7, Jewish students have said they have been targeted with verbal attacks and have complained the administration has not responded in a timely manner.

In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced that it had opened a Title VI investigation into the University.

In May 2024, a student reported being physically and verbally assaulted by an individual holding a Palestinian flag. The same student reported seeing a protestor holding a sign on campus reading “Zionism upholds Nazi ideology + white supremacy."

University Policies and Responsive Action

The University was criticized for not publicly condemning the teaching assistant’s comments in 2020 or sharing the results of an investigation, though President Ron Daniels wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post in October 2021 declaring “Johns Hopkins takes antisemitism seriously.” The President’s October 2023 statement condemning the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel offered support for affected members of the campus community.

The University has launched a working group to support Jewish, Muslim and Arab members of the community and offers non-mandatory antisemitism education to its campus community.

In May 2024, following a 2-week encampment, the University reached an agreement with pro-Palestinian student protestors, with the protestors promising to dismantle the encampment in exchange for a “a timely review of the protesters' key question of divestment, using the university's existing process...[and a conclusion of some] student conduct proceedings arising out of the encampment, provided the protesters agree not to engage in further disruptions of university activities, including Commencement."