Does D.E.I. Help or Hurt Jewish Students?

Some students and professors are questioning whether campus diversity, equity and inclusion offices should do more to combat antisemitism, or whether D.E.I. itself is the problem.

After anti-Israel protests over the war in Gaza upended college campuses last year, many universities set up task forces to examine whether antisemitism was on the rise.

The answer was yes. But one of the factors they identified was perhaps surprising: diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Reports from Stanford University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania found that Jewish students sometimes felt excluded by D.E.I. programs, rather than protected by them.

The task force reports reflected a growing tension on college campuses: How do Jews fit into diversity and inclusion programs on campuses?

Many Jewish campus leaders and students say they do not, but should. Some have argued that the programs have focused on Black, Hispanic and other student groups, and not on Jewish students who face antisemitic slurs, threats and occasional violence.

D.E.I. offices have been under a withering ideological attack recently over concerns that they pit different groups against one another. More than 200 colleges over the last two years have pared back diversity efforts, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, which tracks the backlash. Many have closed offices altogether, and 14 states have passed legislation banning or restricting D.E.I.