The University of Pennsylvania has a Hillel, Chabad, Jewish Greek life organizations and the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.

Litigation & Investigations

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.

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 2023, 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 March 2024, members of the Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine sued the University to prevent it from sending internal documents to a Congressional committee investigating antisemitism on the campus.

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.

In October 2024, graffiti was located in multiple areas of the campus reading "Sinwar Lives," "Kill Zios," "Kill Your Local Zio Nazi" and "Sinwar Strikes Back."

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. In April 2024, the student club was banned. 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.

In May 2024, Penn’s Task Force on Antisemitism and the Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community published their final reports, outlining recommendations for addressing antisemitism on campus. Under the Forward Focused implementation initiative, these recommendations have informed new training programs, have been circulated to all faculty and have led to the development of a project manager position to oversee the implementation of the recommendations.

Through a Special Event Review, Penn implemented updated security protocols at major campus events. Presently, Penn continues to provide additional security at 17 centers for campus and religious life at Penn, including Penn Hillel, the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, and Jewish Greek organizations.

Additionally, in June 2024, Penn adopted new Temporary Standards and Procedures for Campus Events and Demonstrations to ensure expressive activity is appropriately managed. New students were also provided with training focused on antisemitism and protest policies, while a workshop on combatting hate was offered to new faculty.

In September 2024, Penn established the Office of Religious and Ethnic Inclusion, a stand-alone office dedicated to administering and overseeing compliance with Title VI. Effective fall 2024, Penn eliminated the existing surcharge for Kosher dining.

Penn currently has 11 active, formal partnership agreements with Israeli organizations and partners with a number of internal and external Jewish organizations including Hillel, the ADL, Jewish Federation, AJC, Shoah Foundation, Weitzman Museum, and more.

Commendations

On October 30, 2024, ADL issued a commendation to the University of Pennsylvania for the actions and policies implemented by the administration to combat antisemitism on campus in advance of the 2024 fall semester.

The University of Pennsylvania has a Hillel, Chabad, Jewish Greek life organizations and the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.

Litigation & Investigations

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.

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 2023, 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 March 2024, members of the Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine sued the University to prevent it from sending internal documents to a Congressional committee investigating antisemitism on the campus.

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.

In October 2024, graffiti was located in multiple areas of the campus reading "Sinwar Lives," "Kill Zios," "Kill Your Local Zio Nazi" and "Sinwar Strikes Back."

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. In April 2024, the student club was banned. 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.

In May 2024, Penn’s Task Force on Antisemitism and the Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community published their final reports, outlining recommendations for addressing antisemitism on campus. Under the Forward Focused implementation initiative, these recommendations have informed new training programs, have been circulated to all faculty and have led to the development of a project manager position to oversee the implementation of the recommendations.

Through a Special Event Review, Penn implemented updated security protocols at major campus events. Presently, Penn continues to provide additional security at 17 centers for campus and religious life at Penn, including Penn Hillel, the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, and Jewish Greek organizations.

Additionally, in June 2024, Penn adopted new Temporary Standards and Procedures for Campus Events and Demonstrations to ensure expressive activity is appropriately managed. New students were also provided with training focused on antisemitism and protest policies, while a workshop on combatting hate was offered to new faculty.

In September 2024, Penn established the Office of Religious and Ethnic Inclusion, a stand-alone office dedicated to administering and overseeing compliance with Title VI. Effective fall 2024, Penn eliminated the existing surcharge for Kosher dining.

Penn currently has 11 active, formal partnership agreements with Israeli organizations and partners with a number of internal and external Jewish organizations including Hillel, the ADL, Jewish Federation, AJC, Shoah Foundation, Weitzman Museum, and more.

Commendations

On October 30, 2024, ADL issued a commendation to the University of Pennsylvania for the actions and policies implemented by the administration to combat antisemitism on campus in advance of the 2024 fall semester.