New AEN-ADL report: Higher education unions failing Jewish faculty, graduate students
The report highlights how complex procedural rules, low participation rates in internal meetings, and strong pressure to conform allow small, highly organized groups to bypass the wider membership.
A newly released report by the Academic Engagement Network (AEN) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has revealed significant issues within higher education unions. Titled "A Crisis of Representation: Antisemitism and Inclusion in Higher Education Unions," the study exposes how antisemitism, extreme anti-Zionist activism, and governance failures are marginalizing Jewish faculty and graduate students across the nation.
The research analyzed incident reports, member accounts, union materials, and recent campus events to identify emerging trends in union activity. It found that low-turnout elections and meetings enabled activist factions to push their agendas through, often without broad consensus. Notable examples include the American Association of University Professors reversing its opposition to academic boycotts in 2024 and the California Faculty Association demanding cuts to ties with Israeli universities, using terms like "scholasticide," "apartheid," and "genocide."
The report highlights procedural complexities, low internal meeting participation, and strong conformity pressure as factors allowing small, organized groups to dominate union discussions. Faculty members reported feeling silenced due to the application of the slur "Zionist" for expressing any opinion other than full condemnation of Israel. The California Faculty Association and the Santa Cruz Faculty Association both endorsed anti-Zionist statements under the guise of academic freedom.
The study emphasizes how these ideological shifts have diverted unions from their primary responsibilities, such as negotiating fair wages, protecting academic freedom, ensuring job security, and maintaining baseline working conditions. This alienation has eroded cohesion and trust among Jewish academics. One faculty member reported feeling their national organization no longer represents them equally, with union leadership failing to address antisemitism seriously.
Jewish members who raise concerns about antisemitic rhetoric are often dismissed or framed as separate from their identity, leaving them vulnerable to being silenced within inclusion frameworks.
AEN Executive Director Miriam Elman and ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt stressed that unions risk undermining their mission of solidarity and equal representation when they force members to conceal their identity. The report concludes with recommendations for union members, leaders, and university administrators, including improving governance transparency, fostering broader participation, protecting viewpoint diversity, addressing antisemitism within inclusion efforts, and refocusing organizations on core labor priorities.
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