When the Trump administration began its crackdown on campus antisemitism that had proliferated when it was backed by deans and faculty members, many liberal Jewish groups were uncomfortable with the blunt confrontational style of the White House and members of Congress like Rep. Elise Stefanik. Now the numbers are in and they’re undeniable.
Even the ADL is forced to report that antisemitic incidents on campus have massively declined.
The ADL’s latest report notes that assaults nationwide were “higher than ever before” in 2025 with 6,274 incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism & assault, while at the same time campus incidents are way down.
Even while things were getting worse everywhere else, “incidents decreased most significantly on college and university campuses, by 66% (from 1,694 to 583)”, “antisemitic incidents related to anti-Israel protests, including encampments, decreased by 83%” and “vandalism and assault incidents on college campuses also dropped steeply, by 51% and 72%, respectively.”
The ADL credits itself for somehow fixing campus antisemitism accompanied by what it calls a mysterious “decline in the anti-Israel movement on campus”. The reality is that the ADL accomplished nothing on campus. What changed the game was when Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet K. Dhillon made it clear that she would be keeping an eye on campuses for civil rights violations, when Senior Counsellor Leo Terrell called it out on X again and again, and when Rep. Stefanik dragged college leaders into Congress to answer questions.
And when that was followed with financial consequences, settlements and forced resignations, the message went out that what had been previously seen as another social justice campaign was a systemic risk to the careers of university leadership and the viability of their institutions.