A new study by Tufts University researcher Eitan Hersh examined the attitudes and habits of U.S. college students to study the impact of the Israel-Hamas war over time.
The study, released this month, found that an elevated rate of Jewish students said they hide their Jewish identity on campus, that people judge them negatively for participating in Jewish events on campus and that Jewish students broadly pay a social cost for supporting the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.
Local Jewish students say they have experienced this cost firsthand.
“I used to wear my IDF sweatshirt when I was a sophomore, and I no longer do anymore – it’s a shame,” Hannah Segal, a student at Rowan University, said. “People start to treat you differently when they hear you support Israel.”
Gisele Kahlon, a student at Drexel University, said that a lack of education about the conflict complicates social interactions.
“Most people don’t know anything until they just read headlines and they assume they know everything,” Kahlon, whose family lives in Israel, said.
According to the study, in 2024 one in five non-Jewish students said they wouldn’t want to be friends with someone who supports the existence of Israel as a Jewish state and 45% said they were not sure.
“I’ve lost friends because of it,” Kahlon said. “They don’t really understand where we’re coming from.”
For some Jewish students, the social cost goes beyond losing friendships. According to the study, the number of Jewish students who reported experiencing direct antisemitism in a campus social environment jumped from 11% in 2023 to 16% in 2024 – a finding researchers dubbed “highly statistically significant.”
According to Nate Weinberg, a student at Temple University, Jewish students are still looking over their shoulder after leaving the classroom.
“I walk with a yarmulke on or my Star of David that’s visible, I always get a little nervous,” Weinberg said. “I shouldn’t have to keep looking behind me or be scared that someone’s going to shout something or do something.”
The Temple University Police Department has responded to three incidences of vandalism this year at Weinberg’s fraternity house, an off-campus row home that houses several Temple student members of AEPi – a Jewish fraternity.
According to Weinberg, the house’s Israeli flag was stolen, “Free Palestine” was painted on the roof and the house was broken into and urinated on in another incident.
Temple University President Richard M. Englert released a statement on Aug. 2 condemning antisemitic or other hate crimes.
Less than a month later, the university released another statement addressing a demonstration protesting the “situation in Gaza,” where attendees began a protest at the Charles Library and some made their way to the Rosen Center, the home of the Temple chapter of Hillel.
According to the statement, demonstrators used megaphones to chant directly at occupants within the building.
Jewish students are combatting these challenges with Jewish pride, Jewish engagement and limiting exposure to social media.
“My mindset has changed where I don’t really care – I’m not going to take off my Jewish star or my map of Israel,” Kahlon said. “I found more security within myself.”
This is a change from when Kahlon went with a group of Jewish university students to Washington, D.C., in March 2024 to advocate for the Office of Civil Rights to implement a national reporting system for antisemitic incidents. During the trip, Kahlon said in a speech that she was not safe on campus.
Kahlon said that multiple factors have contributed to her feeling safer on campus, including police presence around the Jewish institutions on campus and support from her Jewish community.
Weinberg said that his advice for incoming Jewish freshmen is not to be nervous to get involved.
“Getting involved, for me, has been a great experience – to have the community around me, especially during the tough times, to know that there’s people that you can cry with and then in the good times there’s people that you can laugh with,” Weinberg said.
Many Jewish community organizations saw an increase in engagement following Oct. 7.
According to the study, the percentage of students saying they attended Jewish events on campus rose following Oct. 7 and then fell, but local sources have said their attendance numbers remain high.
The fall semester at Rowan University started just last week, but Rabbi Hersch Loschak of Chabad at Rowan said that attendance has been “off the charts” for their first few events.
“Students are looking to be engaged or looking to get engaged, trying to find out more about Jewish life on campus,” Loschak said.
Twenty-two miles north at Temple University, Weinberg reported a similar experience.
“Attendance has been pretty consistent, the Chabad center has been full of people for Shabbat dinner, there’s usually no open seats,” Weinberg said.
Kahlon also said the increase in attendance for Jewish programming on campus has stuck and that the new faces who got involved following Oct. 7 have stuck around and remained engaged.