Antisemitism Education Initiative

Antisemitism Education Initiative
Center for Jewish Studies

University of California, Berkeley
The Antisemitism Education Initiative promotes antisemitism awareness and education at Berkeley and
at universities throughout California. Housed in UC Berkeley’s Center for Jewish Studies, the AEI works
closely with campus admi; surveys and addresses student needs; hosts workshops on antisemitism;
brings major speakers to campus; and creates resources used on campus and beyond.
The Need: Antisemitism on Campus

With antisemitism on the rise in the United States, college campuses are often flashpoints for
antisemitic incidents. Data from fall 2021 indicates that in the year prior, one third of Jewish students
had personally experienced antisemitism directed at them, including offensive comments or slurs;
antisemitic images; vandalism; and in rare cases, physical threats and/or attacks. In addition, one third
had witnessed antisemitic activity directed at others. Combined, nearly half of Jewish students on
college campuses in the United States had experienced or witnessed antisemitism on campus in the
prior year. Crucially, 75% of these students did NOT report these incidents, with 41% saying they did not
know how or where to report an antisemitic incident. Of those who did report antisemitic incidents to
campus officials, 40% felt they were not taken seriously.
First University-Based Initiative Centering Antisemitism Education

UC Berkeley is the first university in the country to establish a campus-based initiative centering
antisemitism education focused on students, staff, and other campus stakeholders. The AEI is not an
advocacy program. We prioritize interventions grounded in current scholarship and academic research
on antisemitism, hate, and bias, and serves all members of the campus community, Jewish and non-
Jewish, to help improve the capacity of campus stakeholders to recognize, contextualize, and challenge
antisemitism in all its forms. Our work is built around three key values:
• FOSTERING A SHARED LANGUAGE: Our work is centered on regular trainings, building a common
language, and deepening understandings of antisemitism and its connections to broader issues
of bias and exclusion.
• PRIORITIZING EDUCATION: We focus on education, not advocacy, and insist on a nuanced
approach that aims not to indoctrinate, but to facilitate better conversations about
antisemitism.
• CENTERING LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Antisemitism is widespread on campuses nationally, but each
local situation is distinct, and demands a locally rooted solution. At Berkeley, university
administrators turn to us as the local experts on antisemitism and on the culture of our own
campus. We are prepared to meet people where they are, offering pre-emptive trainings and
rapid responses that are informed by the needs and challenges of our campus.
The AEI has been grounded in a partnership between Jewish studies and Israel studies scholars bringing
academic expertise in historical and contemporary antisemitism; scholars of other forms of bias, hate,
and discrimination; Hillel professionals who work daily with students; and campus diversity, equity, and
inclusion staff. This unique combination gives us powerful perspectives and insights on the meaning and
implications of antisemitism on college campuses and enhances our credibility with student leaders and
other campus stakeholders.
Highlights From Our Work Over the Past Year (Fall 2022 to Summer 2023)
• In fall 2022, the AEI’s co-founders played a central role in the university’s response to a high-
profile controversy at Berkeley Law School, including broad internal and external
communications with stakeholders and national Jewish organizations; podcasts, op-eds, and
community briefings; and meetings with donors and community leaders.
• In January 2023, the AEI hired its first full-time program director, Dr. Gregg Drinkwater—a
seasoned educator and trainer, a proven community leader and change agent, and an award-
winning writer. Drinkwater has been a champion of diversity and inclusive communities. He
holds a PhD in U.S. history from the University of Colorado, where he taught courses on Jewish
culture, the Holocaust, and global Jewish history.
• In the spring 2023 semester, the AEI produced:
o A workshop on antisemitism for students, faculty, and staff at Berkeley Law;
o A discussion and debate on the meaning of Zionism attended by nearly 200 students,
faculty, staff at Berkeley Law
o A talk by renowned activist Eric Ward of Race Forward on the role that antisemitism
plays in contemporary White Nationalism in the United States
o An intimate lunch event with Eric Ward and students from Berkeley Law
o A training on antisemitism for staff at the University of California Office of the President
• Also in spring 2023, the AEI also co-presented public scholarly talks by:
o Anthropologist Aomar Boum on Jews imprisoned in labor camps in North Africa during
World War II
o Author Uwe Westphal on the rise and fall of Jewish life in Germany before and during
the Holocaust
o Hebrew University scholar Elisheva Baumgarten on Medieval Christian anti-Judaism
o Fordham University’s Magda Teter on the history of the “Blood Libel” accusation against
Jews.
o A symposium on Jewish and non-Jewish resistance to Nazism during World War II.
• During the spring, the AEI also undertook a series of conversations with students to assess the
campus climate and their greatest challenges, and strengthened working relationships across
campus with Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Student Affairs, and other crucial offices.
This spring we also began a major new effort called the “California Antisemitism Project,” providing
consulting and training to diversity, equity, and inclusion offices on college campuses across the state.
To date, the California Antisemitism Project has worked closely with leadership at Sacramento State
University (including the university president and local Jewish community leaders) to create and
implement new programs and policies in response to a wave of antisemitic incidents and has offered a
series of in-person workshops for over 60 faculty and staff at Santa Barbara City College. AEI leadership
has consulted with faculty and administrators at San Francisco State University, Cal State Northridge, UC
Davis, and UCLA (where we are in conversations to partner on a major project to study antisemitism in
K-12 settings in the state). We are providing a series of focused sessions for a group of 40 staff and
leaders at Stanford University, and supporting USC in implementing their Western Regional Summit on
Antisemitism in Higher Education. We are also taking an active role with the Academic Engagement
Network’s Signature Seminar Series, a cohort of 35 university administrators from across the country.

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Center for Jewish Studies

The Need: Antisemitism on Campus

First University-Based Initiative Centering Antisemitism Education

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