Rutgers University has 6,400 Jewish undergraduate students, 18% of the undergraduate student population, and 1,000 Jewish graduate students, making up 7% of the graduate student population. There is a Hillel, Chabad, and Jewish Greek life organizations.

What’s Happening on Campus?

Rutgers has been dealing with a significant rise in antisemitism on campus. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a Title VI investigation following antisemitic incidents reported on campus in October and November 2023.

The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Rutgers has been very active both before and after October 7, calling on the University to divest from Israel and staging regular protests and sit-ins. In the wake of October 7, SJP described the attacks as “justified retaliation.”

There have been some antisemitic speakers on campus in recent years. In December 2023, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer called on the administration to take action after a Rutgers-sponsored event announced the inclusion of antisemitic and anti-Israel speakers.

Additionally, the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) house has been vandalized four times in the past few years. According to reporting, the house was egged during a 2021 observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, and again in 2022 during another memorial event. Days later, students reported that four carloads of people waving Palestinian flags stopped in front of the fraternity house and yelled antisemitic slurs.  In September 2022, another egging was reported on Rosh Hashanah.

In one particularly serious incident on campus in the fall of 2023, a Rutgers University student posted on YikYak, “Palestinian protesters, there is an Israeli at AEPi go kill him.” The student has been charged with bias intimidation, terroristic threats and false public alarm.

University Policies and Responsive Action

President Jonathan Holloway made a statement in October 2023 condemning the actions of Hamas. In late 2023, Rutgers suspended Students for Justice in Palestine. The group was reinstated in early 2024.

In May 2021, Rutgers University’s chancellor and provost issued a statement condemning antisemitism, but subsequently apologized for failing to communicate support for Palestinian community members. President Holloway issued a statement shortly thereafter stating, “Rutgers deplores hatred and bigotry in all forms. We have not, nor would we ever, apologize for standing against anti-Semitism.”

Following the establishment of a pro-Palestinian encampment, University administrators agreed to several asks from the protestors, including to review the demand that universities divest from companies associated with Israel. The University did note that, while jobs would not be terminated and pay would not be reduced, student protestors “were subject” to the University’s Code of Conduct.