Update for the Stanford community on the work of the Subcommittee on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias

As we reported to the Stanford community at the end of January, our committee was reconstituted in December 2023 when President Richard Saller asked the two of us to serve as co-chairs. At that time the name of our Subcommittee was amended and the membership was expanded to make more explicit our intention to assess all manifestations of antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias at Stanford. While we are still collecting data, what has been made abundantly clear from our work thus far is that — consistent with the national trend — the problem of antisemitism at Stanford is a serious one that requires concerted attention. To this end we wish to reiterate our previous invitation to all members of the community to share with us in writing (at abccommittee@stanford.edu) whatever experience or knowledge they may have of antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias at Stanford.[1]

The Subcommittee defines its core goal as follows: “to help the University create an environment where all members of the community, including Jewish and Israeli students, faculty, and staff, are physically and emotionally safe on the Stanford campus, are treated with dignity and respect, and do not experience a hostile environment.” To achieve this long-term goal, much work must  be done to foster civil and critical discourse on this campus.  We think it is important that the university educate its community about the harms of any discrimination based on religion, shared ancestry, ethnicity, and nationality, and particularly (given the charge to our committee) to educate the community about antisemitism.

Since early January our committee has embarked on a listening campaign for members of the Stanford community in the broadest sense, as well as outside entities. We have convened well over 50 group and individual  listening sessions and interviews, typically of 60 to 90 minutes in duration. We have heard from current undergraduate and graduate students, administrative and academic staff, faculty members, alumni, and parents of current students. We have reached every school and a broad array of administrative units, and we have conducted the sessions both in person and on Zoom. In all, we have heard from over 250 people. Meanwhile, the members of the Subcommittee have been meeting internally on a weekly basis to reflect on what we have been learning. And what we are learning is that antisemitism at Stanford is a pervasive and pernicious problem that is widely misunderstood and often goes unseen and unreported.

Many people in the community who were not able to attend a listening session have written to us to express their views and to share their experiences with antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias. We are carefully documenting all of this material, including the numerous recommendations we have received for changes in policies and practices, and we have established a curated repository of written materials, photographs, and excerpts from social media posts.

To understand how Stanford’s experience compares with that of other universities, and to learn more about what policies, procedures, and initiatives hold the best prospect of countering antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias at Stanford and creating a campus climate of mutual respect and dignity for all identities, we are also talking with the leaders of similar committees at other universities and studying reports coming from these entities. We are also talking with national organizations focused on these issues.

An important dimension of our work is dialogue with the Committee on Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Communities, appointed by President Saller at the same time as our Subcommittee. We are also working with the Ad Hoc Committee on University Speech to strategize how to cultivate civil discourse and combat hate without curtailing the rights of free expression. Our concern to counter bias on campus does not begin and end with antisemitism.  We want all members of the Stanford community to be treated equally, with dignity and respect for their identities and their rights.

Now that the listening sessions are coming to an end, we are beginning to assess how best to structure the report we will be writing to the University and the wider community. This concluding phase of our work will begin in earnest during the Spring Break, and we plan to submit our report well before the end of Spring Quarter.

In closing, we wish to emphasize that the Subcommittee will continue to actively monitor reports of antisemitism and anti-Israeli prejudice, and we will continue to bring them to the attention of University leadership to ensure that they are being addressed according to stated University policies. We have established an effective line of communication with University leaders, and we are in regular contact with them regarding our activities and what we are hearing. 

Larry Diamond and Jeff Koseff
Co-chairs of the Subcommittee on Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias

[1] We emphasize here, as we are doing in all direct interactions with students and other members of our community, that reports to our Subcommittee do not constitute an official report to the University. We encourage any student who experiences an incident of antisemitism or anti-Israeli bias at Stanford that occurs outside the classroom or academic environment to report the incident through the University’s Protected Identity Harm Reporting webpage. If a student experiences an incident of antisemitism or anti-Israeli bias in the classroom or academic environment it should be reported to the dean’s office of the relevant school. Faculty experiencing such incidents should report them to their school dean’s office, and staff should report such incidents to Human Resources. Incidents which occur in residence and dining halls should be reported to staff affiliated with Residential Education (especially RFs and RDs); incidents rooted in student activity spaces to the Office of Student Engagement.