Nearly 80 Percent Of Jewish College Students Hid Their Religious Identity in the Past Year, New Survey Finds

The situation is ‘nothing short of dire,’ Anti-Defamation League senior VP says

Nearly 80 percent of Jewish students have hidden their religious identity on university campuses worldwide, according to an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) survey published Tuesday.

Seventy-eight percent of the Jewish students surveyed said they felt “the need to hide [their] Jewish identity from others at [their] university” at least once in the last year. Another 81 percent said they kept their Zionist identity secret on at least one occasion.

ADL senior vice president of international affairs Marina Rosenberg called the situation “nothing short of dire.”

“This survey exposes a devastating reality: Jewish students across the globe are being forced to hide fundamental aspects of their identity just to feel safe on campus,” Rosenberg said. “When over three-quarters of Jewish students feel they must conceal their religious and Zionist identity for their own safety, the situation is nothing short of dire.”

Such grim results may suggest that a notable portion of the students surveyed attended universities in countries that limit freedom of religion or have notorious records of anti-Semitism in recent years. But in reality, more than two-thirds went to schools in democratic nations, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and even the United States. Germany, where the swastika is banned, boasted the largest representation.

That may make another finding even more jarring: Thirty-four percent of respondents knew Jewish peers who were physically threatened on campus, while another 19 percent reported knowing peers who were physically assaulted. Nearly 30 percent of Jewish students said they experienced discrimination from classmates, compared to 9 percent who reported discrimination from professors or university staff.

The poll, conducted in collaboration with the World Union of Jewish Students during the 2024-25 academic year, surveyed 1,727 Jewish students across 60 countries and 6 continents. Its release comes as several world leaders, including French president Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer, recognize a Palestinian state.

Jewish students in America have also hidden their identities, albeit to a lesser extent than their peers abroad. An ADL survey published in January found that 41 percent of students felt the need to hide their Jewish identity, while only 27 percent said they felt comfortable with others on campus knowing their views on Israel.

Those findings underscore results from a previous poll that highlighted a surge in anti-Semitic incidents. In October 2024, the ADL reported more than 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in the year following Hamas’s terror attack, the highest annual total ever recorded. At least 1,200 of those incidents occurred on U.S. college campuses, reflecting a staggering sixfold increase from the previous year.

It remains to be seen what effect President Donald Trump’s efforts to curb campus anti-Semitism will have. In July, the Trump administration secured a $221 million settlement with Columbia University, while Brown committed to a $50 million payment. It’s also pursuing a $1.2 billion settlement with the University of California, Los Angeles, and a $500 million settlement with Harvard University, though negotiations with the Ivy League school have reportedly stalled.