US Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Elise Stefanik have announced the launch of the new bipartisan Combating Antisemitism on College Campuses Caucus, which aims to hold colleges and universities accountable for protecting Jewish students, faculty, and staff.
The representatives announced the formation of the caucus during a conversation at Vanderbilt University on Tuesday. Also present were five visiting university leaders from across the country, including leaders from the University of Kentucky, the University of Texas at Austin, Dartmouth College, the University of Alabama, and Washington University in St. Louis.
The caucus will serve as a bipartisan forum for members of Congress to coordinate oversight of how colleges and universities respond to antisemitism. It will also press institutions to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff, and to enforce their own anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies.
Additionally, the caucus will advance and track federal legislation targeting campus antisemitism and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)-driven discrimination, including the Antisemitism Awareness Act, the HEAL Act, and the newly House-passed Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act.
Gottheimer has been a leading voice in Congress against antisemitism, including authoring the Antisemitism Awareness Act and leading House Resolution 883, which declared the “from the river to the sea” chant antisemitic. Stefanik is well known for her campaigning against antisemitism, and recently published a book about campus Jew-hatred.
A Caucus to 'hold universities accountable'
“Since October 7, Jewish students on too many campuses have been harassed, intimidated, and made to feel like strangers in their own school,” said Gottheimer. “That’s why Elise and I are teaming up to launch this caucus to hold universities accountable, back up the schools getting it right, like Vanderbilt, and make sure every Jewish kid can have a college experience without fear of discrimination or violence.”
“From asking questions at the most watched hearing in Congressional history with university presidents that led to an earthquake in higher education to passing key legislation, I have been proud to be the leader in Congress on combating antisemitism and anti-Americanism at our colleges and universities,” said Stefanik.
“The anti-Americanism on college campuses has been growing for far too long. We must save American education for the next generation, which is why we are highlighting schools like Vanderbilt, which are getting it right.”
In June 2026, Vanderbilt University Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said he was “very optimistic” about universities’ efforts to curb antisemitism.
In 2025, the Anti-Defamation League ranked Vanderbilt among the top eight universities nationwide for effectively addressing antisemitism. That ranking was due, in part, to its actions following the 2024 pro-Palestine campus sit-in; the university immediately suspended 30 students involved in the demonstration, later expelling some and putting others on long-term probation.