Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Staff Contribute To Hostile Campus Climate For Jewish Students, Study Finds

Jewish students are being harmed by diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) staff at universities across the country, according to a study from the conservative Heritage Foundation.

The College Fix reported that the study, titled, “Inclusion Delusion: The Antisemitism of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Staff at Universities,” illustrated that DEI staff often act as “political activists,” and contribute to a hostile campus climate for Jewish students. From the Fix:

The study should help people understand that the “nice-sounding words” of diversity, equity and inclusion are “masking university programs that actually spew hate and division, particularly with respect to Jews,” [study co-author Jay] Greene told The College Fix via email.

The study concluded DEI staff are “particularly unwelcoming toward Jewish students,” noting that this attitude may promote antisemitic sentiments at universities.

“The political activism of DEI staff may help explain the rising frequency of antisemitic incidents on college campuses as well as the association between college and graduate education and higher levels of antisemitic attitudes,” the report stated.

Greene and fellow co-author James Paul conducted the research by searching the public Twitter profiles of 741 DEI personnel at 65 universities and compared their statements on Israel to China and Palestine, and found that the staffers were often critical of Israel while remaining favorable to China.

“Those DEI staff tweeted, retweeted, or liked almost three times as many tweets about Israel as tweets about China. Of the tweets about Israel, 96 percent were critical of the Jewish state, while 62 percent of the tweets about China were favorable,” the report found.

In one tweet, a Multicultural Student Center staff person said: “Condemn the Apartheid State of Israel for their Human Rights Violations against the Palestinian.”

The researchers found the word “apartheid” 43 times in reference to Israel in the Twitter feeds of DEI staff. They also mentioned “colonialism” 39 times and “genocide” nine times – all in tweets referring to Israel.

“The frequent use of words such as apartheid and colonialism are meant to portray Israel as a racist endeavor and deny its right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people,” the study said.

The study found a “double standard” when it came to “the sparsity of criticism of China relative to Israel.” The study found that “DEI staff were less likely to offer criticisms of China than of Israel, and those criticism tended to be less strongly worded.”

Greene told the Fix that instead of “welcoming diverse students, these programs are actually left-wing radicals being paid with taxpayer subsidies and tuition dollars.”

Andrew Pessin, campus bureau editor for the Algemeiner and a professor at Connecticut College, told the Fix that the study confirms what he has seen “anecdotally for the past several years, that DEI staff tend to be problematically hostile to Israel.”

“They’re welcome to their personal opinions of course, but if their job is to create an inclusive environment for all students on a campus, that must extend to Jewish and Zionist students as well, who have just as much right to a safe campus environment as anybody,” he added. “It’s hard to do that when you’re busy bashing Israel all over social media.”