Jewish on campus: Complexity and tikkun

Abstract

In an era of profound antisemitism, it is essential that higher education leaders and campus communities provide additional, direct support to Jewish students. In this space, we introduce recent literature on Jewish identity expressions and campus climates for bolstering Jewish appreciation in hopes of catalyzing necessary conversations with respect to Jewish students. We specifically consider Jewishness—its expressions(s) of religion, race, and ethnicity—as central aspects of students’ college experiences and provide considerations for engaging the complexity of Jewish identity. Drawing on findings from a large‐scale national study, we further suggest that climatic features which support Jewish appreciation (e.g., space for expression; productive interfaith exchange) not only benefit Jews, but all students. We then introduce practical recommendations along three areas: affirming Jewish identity expression, providing structural and organizational supports, and uncompromisingly combating antisemitism. We close on a hopeful tone that this piece can guide and motivate efforts toward repairing college communities for Jews and their allies.Practical Takeaways Jewishness is a complex identity space encompassing religion, race, ethnicity, and integrated forms of expression. Understanding this complexity is essential to creating welcoming collegiate learning environments for Jewish students. Robust findings support the claim that colleges can be instrumental in developing undergraduates' appreciative attitudes toward Jews. Colleges should strive to achieve this outcome by creating climates that support religious expression and encouraging productive exchanges across worldview differences. Affirming Jewish identity expression, leveraging structural and organizational changes to directly include and support Jewish students, and vigorously confronting pronounced antisemitism and violence against Jews must be high priorities for campus leaders and college communities.