The University ratified a “mutual understanding” with the Jewish United Fund of Chicago, Hillel International and Illini Hillel on Sept. 3. The agreement, which amended the code of conduct, serves as a guideline to define antisemitism and how the University can prevent antisemitic incidents.
The understanding follows a 2020 Title VI complaint where Jewish students attending the University alleged an antisemitic and hostile environment.
During the U.S. Department of Education’s subsequent investigation, they reviewed 135 incidents of anti-Jewish discrimination and four incidents of either anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian or anti-Arab discrimination spanning from 2015 to 2023.
According to Erez Cohen, executive director of Illini Hillel, there have been “several instances that members of the administration actively participated in excluding Jewish students from University events and committees” dating back to 2018.
The University pledged to continue investigating issues in school policy to better recognize instances of antisemitism and general discrimination, such as holding at least one meeting each academic year for students, faculty and staff to weigh in with any concerns about incidents of harassment.
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Hillel International will provide regular training for staff and students to define antisemitism. This includes anti-Zionism and bias against those of Israeli national origin.
RSOs will be required to sign a nondiscrimination statement. Those who refuse will be subject to discipline per the University’s anti-discrimination guidelines. The University will also not allow RSOs to boycott campus events that include Jewish organizations.
Many students feel Zionism is an integral part of their Jewish identity and the University has pledged to safeguard their “right to openly express identification with Israel.”
“We treat Zionism as an inherent part of Jewish identity since it represents the ancestral and eternal connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel,” Cohen said. “While not every Jewish person may see themselves as a Zionist, Zionism is inherently part of the overall Jewish existence, just like the Jewish Sabbath of the Jewish belief that there is one God.”
Cohen expressed concern over the word “Zionist” being used instead of “Jews,” because Jewish people are attacked for being Zionists regardless of their actual stance on Zionism.
“This interchangeability shows us that this language is just masked antisemitism,” Cohen said.
While Cohen expressed gratitude to the University for this measure, in an open letter to the University, U-C Jews for Ceasefire expressed concern for its implication against academic freedom concerning critiques of Zionism and Israel.
According to the letter, academic freedom should be just as a right for those who identify as Zionists as those who do not.
“We believe that students, community members and indeed our group itself, have the right to speak and protest publicly, without censorship, arrest or discrimination,” U-C Jews for Ceasefire said in the letter.
The letter stated that because of the University’s status as a public secular institution, it should not maintain a certain stance on the situation.
U-C Jews for Ceasefire also said that they fear the mutual agreement will further proliferate false accusations of antisemitism against pro-Palestinian groups on campus.
“We firmly believe that it is not antisemitic to protest the crimes against humanity that Israel is committing or to support the United Nations in declaring Israel’s actions a violation of international law,” the letter read. “In fact, it is quite the opposite; our Jewish values require us to stand up against what is wrong and fight for a future where Palestinians can live out their hopes and dreams in safety on their homeland.”
All Jewish students, regardless of their beliefs on Zionism, should be protected, said U-C Jews for Ceasefire. However, they said that at the same time, this mutual understanding that establishes Zionism as central to Jewish identity poses “dangers” in erasing the diversity among Jewish people.
“For over 5,000 years, Jews have written, argued and struggled to collectively define who we are in the places in which we live,” the letter read. “There are many Jewish organizations here in the University’s community: Hillel, Chabad, Sinai Temple, the Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation and U-C Jews for Ceasefire collectively are testament to the significant variety in Jewish identities, religiosity, rituals and politics.”
