Fall 2024 Commendation

On October 30, 2024, ADL issued a commendation to the University of Michigan for the recent actions and policies implemented by the administration to combat antisemitism on their campus. For more details on these policy updates, click here and for the commendation letter click here.

Background

The University of Michigan has 5,000 Jewish undergraduate students, representing 15% of the undergraduate student population, and 1,500 Jewish graduate students, making up 8% of the graduate student body. There is a Hillel, Chabad and Jewish Greek life organizations.

What’s Happening on Campus?

In October 2023, shortly after the Hamas terrorist attacks, flyers appeared on campus that read “Zionists f*** off.” Also in October 2023, a Star of David on the rock was crossed out in red paint.

Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), the University of Michigan’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, has been an active proponent of the BDS movement for many years. Following President Santa Ono’s statement condemning Hamas, SAFE organized a protest outside his home chanting “When Palestine is under attack, stand up, fight back,” and “Justice is our demand, no peace on stolen land.”

In November 2023, SAFE organized a sit-in outside the president’s office; hours after police officers began to warn protesters that they needed to leave, 40 students were arrested for not complying. SAFE continues to hold protests, walkouts and die-ins. Jewish fraternity houses and the Jewish Resource Center have also been vandalized in the past year.

In March 2024, a University of Michigan student and SAFE leader posted on Instagram, “Until my last breath I will utter death to every single individual who supports the Zionist state. Death and more. Death and worse.” Also in March 2024, the University’s Honors Convocation ceremony was abruptly ended due to disturbances by anti-Israel protesters. On at least two occasions in 2024, SAFE students disrupted classes by marching through the Ross Business School building.

Michigan faced similar antisemitism in 2021, including antisemitic messages painted on the rock. A University professor was also disciplined in 2018 after refusing to write a letter of recommendation for a student when he learned she planned to study in Israel.

In April 2024, pro-Palestinian protestors set up an encampment, calling themselves the ‘student Intifada.’ Despite reports of vandalism and property damage, as well as a protest that descended into violence, the encampment remained in place into mid-May. At the beginning of May, protestors also disrupted several commencement events and ceremonies, and the campus Hillel reported that a giant banner reading ‘Long Live the Intifada’ was blocking the entrance to one of the main campus buildings. In mid-May, masked protestors, allegedly from the University’s encampment, came to the homes of members of the University’s Board of Regents to demand divestment from Israel.

In June, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights entered into a resolution agreement with the University following a Title VI investigation. Among other requirements, the resolution stated that the University must update incident response policies (including with respect to hostile off-campus and online incidents), clearly articulate what constitutes discrimination, conduct annual trainings on discrimination and harassment, and administer a climate assessment for members of the campus community to assess the extent of discrimination and harassment on campus.

University Policies and Responsive Action

In the wake of October 7 and the rise of antisemitism at the University, Ono announced the creation of a new institute to combat antisemitism and advance religious inclusion. The administration has also committed to including antisemitism in DEI programming. Additionally, University leadership canceled a student body vote regarding two BDS-related resolutions after an unauthorized email was sent to the entire undergraduate student body encouraging support of the resolutions in violation of university standards.

In response to the threatening message posted on Instagram in March, the University sent a campus-wide email condemning the student’s message and stating any violations of law or university policy would result in "appropriate consequences.” After the disruption of the Honors Convocation ceremony, Ono condemned the disruption and announced that the University would be developing a policy governing disruption of university operations.

In response to the encampments, the University had requested that protestors violating policies disband. However, little effort had initially been made by the administration to dismantle the encampment, despite the serious nature of the incidents being reported. In May 2024, President Ono released a statement announcing the dismantling of the encampment after safety directives were ignored by protestors.  President Ono’s statement failed to acknowledge the clear antisemitism on display during the encampments and its deeply harmful impact on Jewish students.

*On April 11, 2024, University of Michigan was graded a "D"; in light of new information or events, the grade was changed to an "F" on June 18, 2024.