A Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School warns that the wave of anti-Semitism that swept through American universities after the October 7th attacks of 2023 hasn’t disappeared—it has adapted, taking on quieter, more insidious forms that have become embedded in campus culture.
Professor William Jacobson says the "venomous" hatred that pervades campuses has adapted, learning to mask their anti-Semitism, cracking down on physical encampments and demonstrations, while hardening the ideology within.
"There has been a gross campaign at the international level to demonize Israel," he told Fox News Digital. "False accusations of genocide. These are all percolating under the surface on the campuses. In some ways, the situation’s worse underneath."
Anti-Semitism, he argued, has simply been absorbed into the culture of American universities.
"People should not be complacent that these issues were brewing before October 7th," he warned. "They’ve been pushed now back below the surface, but it’s still brewing on campuses and nobody should kid themselves."
Professor Jacobson also characterized elite universities as "playing hide-and-seek" with the Department of Education and its investigations into campus anti-Semitism. He argues they believe they can simply outlast the lawsuits.
"I think the schools think they can outlast the Trump administration," Jacobson argued. "That they can rope-a-dope it for two to three more years. And then perhaps they'll be rescued by a new administration."
He also argued they care less about backlash from donors and more about the federal funding that keeps them afloat.
"They take a longer-term view. They think this is going to blow over," he said. "For every alum who withholds a contribution because of anti-Israelism on campus, there's probably another, probably a foreign donor, who makes up for it."
"What they do care about is federal funding, because federal funding is on a scale that so far surpasses private donations that it's something they can't ignore," he continued. "If Trump ends up prevailing in a lot of these lawsuits, and I believe he will, that’s going to put certain schools in a very bad situation."
Professor Jacobson described far-left universities as "people clinging to a lifeboat after their ship was just sunk," waiting for a change in political tides.
"They're hanging on to the lifeboat waiting for help to arrive," he said. "They will probably think we’ve been here before, and we'll ride this one out."
Some have described the Trump administration's actions against these universities as an attack on free speech and political beliefs. Jacobson dismissed the claim.
"A lot of people say Palestinian students are being suspended for their speech. No, they're not," Jacobson said. "They're being suspended because they take over the library. They disrupt people. They intimidate people. It's conduct that they're engaged in."
"All I have ever called for is to enforce the rules evenly," he said. "You don't get to set up checkpoints like they did at UCLA and weed out Zionist students. You don't get to declare Zionist-free zones on a campus because you're denying other students their right to education."
Though despite the administration's efforts, few universities are truly reckoning with the anti-Semitism they let fester.
"I don't believe the schools have changed their world outlook at all," he said. "They’re just waiting it out. They're playing hide-and-seek with the administration."
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