The Anti-Defamation League gave Cornell a “C” grade in its third annual Campus Antisemitism Report Card, released on March 10. The ADL classifies a “C” grade as “corrections needed.”
In a round of re-grades announced by the ADL on April 13, Cornell was not among the 11 schools who saw their scores improve. 89% of the 150 schools assessed this year “engaged in consultations” with the ADL to inform their report card assessments, according to the announcement. The ADL did not specify whether Cornell was among these schools when asked by The Sun.
Scott Richman, ADL regional director for New York and New Jersey, told The Sun in an email that the ADL has “engaged with Cornell over the past several years to support the administration’s efforts to address antisemitism and support the Jewish campus community.”
“Our engagement has included consultations, regular conversations (particularly following incidents), provision of resources and best practices, invitations to ADL educational webinar programming and requests for information to help inform the Campus Antisemitism Report Card,” Richman wrote.
“With respect to the Report Card, Cornell has consistently responded with comprehensive information,” he added. “Simultaneously, our region has also maintained regular contact with the campus Hillel to stay informed on developments on the ground and provide support as necessary.”
The 2026 report card assesses 150 universities on 32 criteria to evaluate “how institutions of higher education address antisemitism through policy and administrative practice,” according to the ADL’s website. Cornell received a “D” in 2024, a “C” in 2025 and a “C” again in 2026.
Brown, Dartmouth and Penn received “B”s in this year’s report card, while the rest of the universities in the Ivy League — Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton and Yale — received “C”s. In 2025, Dartmouth was the only Ivy League institution to score a “B,” while Princeton, Yale and Columbia received “D”s and the rest of the Ivy League received “C”s.
Like Cornell, Brown, Penn and Columbia all reached settlements this year with the Trump administration to close federal discrimination investigations and restore frozen funding.
In response to both the “C” grade and the subsequent lack of improvement following re-grades, the University said that the grade does not accurately reflect the Jewish community’s experience at Cornell.
“While we do not agree that this grade is representative of an otherwise thriving Jewish community at Cornell, we appreciate the Anti-Defamation League’s efforts to hold universities accountable. Cornell’s leadership has unequivocally condemned antisemitism and consistently reinforced the university’s commitment to protecting Jewish students,” a University spokesperson wrote.
What is the ADL?
The ADL is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” according to its website.
The ADL first announced the creation of its annual report card in January 2023, with the stated purpose to “sound the alarm about widespread increases in antisemitic incidents” and to ensure the safety of Jewish students on college campuses.
The first assessment was published in April 2024, amid a national surge of pro-Palestine protests on college campuses — many of which called on universities to divest or disaffiliate from defense and technology companies involved with Israel.
The ADL follows the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism. The IHRA defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews,” and adds that “rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
Additionally, according to an ADL webpage, anti-Zionism, which “rejects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and downplays or negates the nearly 4,000-year Jewish connection to the land of Israel,” is “antisemitic, in intent or effect.”
The ADL’s Grading System
The ADL scores universities in three categories: Jewish life on campus, administrative actions, campus conduct and climate concerns.
Cornell received an “excellent” in Jewish life and “meeting expectations” in administrative action, but “high” concern in campus conduct and climate.
In terms of the “high” concern in campus conduct and climate, the ADL noted an increase in the “[l]evel of severe/other antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents” from January to December 2025 compared to the prior year. Additionally, it mentioned “hostile anti-Zionist” activity from student groups, student government, staff and faculty, though it noted “no recent reports of these issues” from faculty government.
The ADL used surveys conducted in Fall 2024 by College Pulse, a company researching undergraduate student experiences across the nation, to inform this year’s report card.
According to the ADL’s “Methodological Appendix,” over 1,030 Jewish and 1,140 non-Jewish students were surveyed across 135 different schools. Respondents ranked the personal importance of policies related to Jewish students, Jewish life and anti-Zionist incidents and groups present on campus.
Additionally, the ADL Center on Extremism collected data on antisemitic incidents that was incorporated into the 2026 report, though the report only factored in incidents recorded in 2025, according to the ADL.
Contextualizing Cornell’s Score
Cornell came under federal investigation for alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia in November 2023 after a series of on-campus pro-Palestine demonstrations and online antisemitic threats toward Cornell students.
The investigations claimed Cornell violated Title VI, which prohibits discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance. Cornell was investigated again in March 2025 by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and was one of 60 universities that received a Department of Education warning regarding on-campus antisemitism.
The investigations were closed following a $60 million settlement with the Trump administration on Nov. 7, except an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission into alleged discrimination remains. As a part of this investigation, the EEOC sent out a March 17 survey to Cornell employees inquiring about antisemitic communications, hiring rubrics and anti-bias training.
Under “Campus Conduct and Climate Concerns,” the ADL report cites several antisemitic incidents occurring in 2025, including messages on an “anonymous social media app” after Kehlani’s Slope Day performance was canceled in April 2025, after President Michael Kotlikoff heard concerns from members of the community due to what he called “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media” from the singer..
The messages included: “Hoping they choose an actual Hamas soldier to replace Khelani (prayer emoji)," "Kanye for slope day at this point" and "If the jewish parents ruin slope day for us im going to lose my mind. they have too much of a say on this campus,” according to the ADL.
Other incidents cited include emails with graphic death threats toward Jewish and LGBTQ+ students sent to several Sun departments in September under an account purporting to be Kotlikoff and an “anti-Israel op-ed” published in The Sun in October with “a drawing of an SS symbol inside a Star of David,” which was later removed.
The ADL also cited an incident where former Prof. Eric Cheyfitz, literatures in English, allegedly asked Israeli graduate student Oren Renard to leave his course on Gaza in Spring 2025, claiming Renard recorded fellow students in class and cited other aspects of the student’s participation in class.
Renard then filed a discrimination complaint with Cornell’s Office of Civil Rights, which was later referred to Provost Kavita Bala and Kotlikoff. Cheyfitz’s actions were found to be in violation of federal anti-discrimination law, and he faced a two-semester suspension. Cheyfitz retired in October before proceedings were finalized.
In the category of “Publicly Disclosed Administrative Actions,” the ADL scored Cornell as “meeting expectations” and pointed to a page titled “Fighting Antisemitism and Protecting Civil Rights” on the Office of the President’s website as “prominently signaling a no-tolerance policy for antisemitism.” It also noted the establishment of the Cornell Office of Civil Rights in June 2025, aimed to streamline responses to Title VI and Title IX discrimination cases.
Cornell received an “excellent” grade in the “Jewish Life on Campus” category, with the report citing the University’s Hillel, Chabad, Jewish Greek life, the Center for Jewish Living, kosher dining and student programming. Cornell Hillel also broke ground for a new Jewish community center on West Campus in March, which is expected to open in Fall 2027.
Following a May 2024 report from an antisemitism advisory council convened by former President Martha Pollack in response to several pro-Palestine campus demonstrations in Fall 2023, Cornell revised its January 2024 Interim Expressive Activity Policy and finalized it in March 2025. The policy specifies that demonstrations may not occur in a “time, place, or manner that threatens physical safety or that disrupts essential operations.”
According to the ADL, University staff have also engaged in ADL antisemitism trainings, with faculty participating in the Brandeis University Summer Institute on Antisemitism in Higher Education in June 2025.
Student Reactions
Cornell Hillel stated in an email to The Sun that “Jewish life at Cornell is thriving” and that their doors are open so “Jewish students can find community, belonging and connection.” They added that “[n]o off-campus group can fully capture both the challenges and opportunities for Jewish students on our campus.” They did not respond to requests for more information regarding programming and initiatives combating antisemitism.
Sam Poole ’28, a member of Cornell’s Chavurah and anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace, challenged several incidents cited in the ADL’s report as anti-Zionist, rather than antisemitic.
Poole said that demonstrations are “often led by Jewish students who are horrified by the acts committed by a state using their religious symbols and citing their safety as justification.”
Instead, Poole claimed these as “examples of civil disobedience and democratic dissent in the best American and Jewish tradition.”
In order to create a genuinely “welcoming space” for Jewish community members, Poole said that both Cornell and the ADL must “start by recognizing the diversity of opinion and sentiment in the Jewish community regarding Israel.”
Poole noted that he has found a “vibrant” Jewish community at Cornell and did not feel threatened by the incidents in the ADL’s report, pointing instead to “[J]ews and non-[J]ews alike” gathering to celebrate the end of Passover at Chavurah and JVP’s Freedom Seder for three consecutive years.
Ezra Galperin ’27, a member of Cornellians for Israel, a Sun opinion columnist and a representative at-large in the Student Assembly said that he believes Cornell “deserves a better grade.”
“Cornell has taken corrective actions over the last couple of years. The University has shown willingness to hold agitators to account and has actively helped our community with security,” Galperin said.
According to a “Fighting Antisemitism and Protecting Civil Rights” page on Cornell’s Office of the President website, the University has issued “81 disciplinary actions” and revised its Expressive Activity Policy in response to incidents since October 2023.
Galperin also acknowledged the strong Jewish community at Cornell, saying, “I really feel that there is infinitely more good that the Jewish community can do for itself and for the wider campus community than there is harm that any agitators on campus can bring to us.”
Iris Liang is a member of the class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a Senior Writer and can be reached her at iliang@cornellsun.com.
