Fall 2024 Commendation

On October 30, 2024, ADL issued a commendation to the University of Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania has over 1200 Jewish undergraduate students, comprising  about 16% of the undergraduate student population. Penn has a Hillel, Chabad, Jewish Greek life organizations and the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.

What’s Happening on Campus?

The University of Pennsylvania garnered national attention around antisemitism even before the Israel-Hamas conflict began. The school faced major backlash in September 2023 for hosting the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, which featured several speakers with a history of antisemitism. Issues of antisemitic vandalism also occurred on campus prior to October 2023 and have continued to take place since.

In November 2023, staff members received violent antisemitic threats that mentioned the campus Hillel and a residence hall. That same month, antisemitic and anti-Israel messages were projected onto various buildings on campus.

In December, the University received a threatening message via its website that stated: "you are going to be mass shoot [sic] in the Pennsylvania jew sh** university. we will mass shoot you very soon."

Criticism of then-President Liz Magill increased in December when she said at a Congressional hearing that calling for the genocide of Jews would not necessarily violate the school’s code of conduct. Magill was pressured to resign shortly thereafter, and several significant Jewish donors and alumni have disassociated from the school.

In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened a Title VI investigation into Penn, following a complaint by the Brandeis Center alleging the school failed to protect Jewish students from harassment.

In March 2024, members of the Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine sued the University to attempt to prevent it from sending internal documents to a Congressional committee investigating antisemitism on the campus.

University Policies and Responsive Action

Former President Magill launched an antisemitism task force and action plan before her resignation and committed to recruiting a new leader experienced in addressing antisemitism and other forms of hate. The University has since developed its own overview of antisemitism and has said they will “refer” to the IHRA Definition as well. Penn has also made efforts to encourage more students to report bias or harassment and has increased its security services on campus.

In March 2024, the University began investigating 'Penn Against the Occupation,' removing them from the official student club registry until the investigation has concluded. Penn's schools have also offered a variety of antisemitism education opportunities to the campus community, including a Bystander Intervention Workshop to Stop Antisemitic Harassment, an Economic Antisemitism Workshop, and an Exploring Jewish Identity and Building Inclusive Communities Workshop.

Following 16 days of a ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ set up in April 2024, Penn campus and state police dismantled the encampment and arrested 33 protestors, including 9 students.