The Hidden Cost of Campus Antisemitism: Faculty Mental Health

Since Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack, many Jewish faculty at colleges and universities across the country have been describing their professional lives in language more commonly associated with trauma than academic disagreement. In a nationwide survey of more than 200 Jewish-identifying U.S.-based faculty conducted between April and July of 2025 by the Academic Engagement Network (AEN) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), respondents spoke of fear, isolation, and a loss of belonging on their own campuses.

One Jewish faculty member starkly described the experience: “I’m being attacked online…I have been ostracized by faculty in a smear campaign. I have been advised…not to come to campus…this is as bad as it gets.” Another shared, “faculty are not talking to me because they know I’m a Zionist.” And another participant confided, “I am being attacked in all directions, and I no longer feel safe on campus.”

And these aren’t isolated incidents. In the AEN-ADL survey, nearly three-quarters of Jewish and Zionist faculty on U.S. campuses reported experiencing hostility or bias directly from colleagues since October 7. More than 20 percent of the respondents said they had experienced differential treatment during professional evaluations, promotions, or job assignments because they were Jewish or perceived to be pro-Israel. Almost 40 percent reported feeling pressure to hide or downplay their Jewish and/or Zionist views and identities to avoid social or professional retaliation. Perhaps most disturbing, among the 170 faculty who reported having had negative experiences on campus related to being Jewish and/or Zionist, nearly 40 percent said they are considering leaving academia altogether.

Together, these accounts point to a growing crisis in the academic workplace – one that has significant implications for faculty wellbeing, academic freedom, and institutional trust.

These themes surfaced clearly at a recent three-day convening hosted by the Academic Engagement Network in Miami that brought together Jewish and Zionist faculty from nearly 40 colleges and universities throughout the United States. Faculty used the language of trauma to describe how the hostility, social ostracism, and institutional silence that they have faced on their campuses and within their professional academic associations have taken a significant toll on their mental health. They had the opportunity to hear from the award-winning Harvard University clinical psychologist Dr. Miri Bar-Halpern, who articulated and validated their experiences by describing the well-documented psychological effects of exclusion and denial, including anxiety, withdrawal, and a diminished sense of belonging in what was once a professional home. The faculty emphasized the need for spaces that acknowledge harm and support recovery and post-traumatic growth.

While universities have appropriately devoted significant attention and resources to Jewish student wellbeing after October 7, far less focus has been placed on the needs and mental health of faculty and staff. That gap matters. Faculty are employees, and when substantial numbers report feeling unsafe, isolated, or psychologically harmed at work, administrators are confronting not only a campus climate issue, but a potential workplace harassment issue.

Responding effectively requires more than statements condemning antisemitism or affirming institutional values. Universities need clear, enforceable policies that prohibit harassment, discrimination, and exclusion based on Jewish identity or Zionist beliefs. They also need to invest in resources that address faculty wellbeing directly – including through trauma-informed mental health support and inclusive spaces where their lived experiences are validated, and they can speak openly without fear of professional consequences.

The findings of the AEN-ADL survey shine a light on the outsized role that virulently anti-Israel faculty and staff play in creating a hostile climate on college campuses and negatively impacting the mental health of their Jewish and Zionist colleagues. While student activists and outside provocateurs may garner national headlines, it is faculty who are the primary drivers of campus antisemitism and anti-Israel bias, providing the intellectual scaffolding for the actions of impressionable students. When hatred and bigotry originate among faculty – those entrusted with modeling scholarly rigor, civil debate and dialogue, and the upholding of institutional norms – it does considerable harm, as students take their cues from their professors.

The AEN-ADL faculty survey is a wake-up call. It reveals that antisemitism and anti-Zionist bias are not only coming from the margins of campus life, but from within its academic core. Left unaddressed, this hostility risks driving  Jews out of higher education.

In a moment when higher education is already facing a lack of public trust and ongoing political attacks, the prospect of losing Jewish employees because they feel unwelcome on campus should concern every administrator and the academy more broadly. Do Jewish and Zionist faculty still have a place in American higher education, especially in the humanities and ‘softer’ social sciences where vehemently anti-Israel narratives dominate? Will young Jews choose to forgo a career in the academy due to the hostility they will likely face? What are the implications for Jewish and Zionist students, who will lack faculty mentors if this comes to pass? These questions should be top of mind for all university leaders.

University leaders must continue to focus on improving the campus climate for Jewish students, faculty, and staff while appreciating that vehemently anti-Israel faculty activists are often the key instigators of harm. They should take meaningful steps to ensure that all members of the academic community, including Jewish and Zionist faculty, are protected, supported, and able to thrive, and that their mental health concerns are validated and addressed. For institutions committed to open inquiry and inclusion, the path forward should be clear.

Miriam F. Elman is executive director of the Academic Engagement Network. Raeefa Z. Shams is the organization’s director of programming and communications.