It’s the busiest time of year for Milken seniors as the college application process is in full swing. For the past couple of months and beyond, seniors’ schedules have felt infiltrated with filling out the “common app”. Committing yourself to a college for four years is a big enough deal as is, but with the recent outpour of Antisemitism on college campuses, this decision only holds more weight to it.

Antisemitism has always been a prevalent issue in society, and that remains true; it has additionally taken visible shape on college campuses ever since Hamas committed its atrocities on October 7th. In the wake of and in the midst of this, Jewish students around the country and world are asking themselves if they are safe and even welcome on campus.

These are all important questions families must consider when sending their children off to a four-year university. According to an ADL (Anti-Defamation League) report, anti-Jewish hate crimes reported to police across 20 major cities in 2023 rose 48 percent – a new record. Additionally, since the terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, reported Antisemitic incidents against Jewish students on college campuses have reached alarmingly high rates, increasing by 700 percent from 2022 to 2024.

A school to which many Milken students have in recent years found themselves applying is the University of Michigan, and just recently, Antisemitic incidents overtook the Ann Arbor campus. On Rosh Hashanah, Jewish students gathered together at the Michigan Chabad to honor the new year when all of a sudden an armed man broke in and held the Rabbi and students at gunpoint. Fortunately, no injuries occurred, and everyone was in that moment physically safe, but things could have gone very differently.

Benjamin H. (‘25), took the time to reflect on how his college search is going amidst such overt Antisemitism.

“When Oct. 7th first happened, I thought I couldn’t go to a certain few schools but then realized that Antisemitism is happening everywhere”, he said. “I am still going to find my Jewish community when I go to college and try to be as involved as possible.”

Hillel International tracked Antisemitic incidents on campus between July 2024 to the present, and they saw that there were 10 times as many as the ones they had tracked in 2023 before October 7th. They updated these statistics on October 29, 2024.

Additionally, Elliot B. (’25) shared that he chose not to apply to certain schools that, in his view, did not address issues of Antisemitism.

“I understand that Antisemitism is going to be there,” he explained, “but if a school handles it well and creates a strong Jewish environment then that is what is important to me.”

Mr. Elliot Shavalian, a college counselor at Milken, spoke about the obstacles he and his colleagues have had to navigate throughout the visibly rising Antisemitism.

“Our general stance before October 7th was that it was our job to provide families with the information and resources to make the best decision that is right for them,” he said.

“October 7th kind of expedited the rising impact of Antisemitism and put it in people’s faces more,” he continued. “Our offices got some questions of, ‘are there colleges you’re not recommending?’ We’ve had to find this fine line between helping our students put their best foot forward and showing their authentic selves.”

He added that “there are some students [who] say if there is an SJP [Students for Justice in Palestine] that they don’t want to go [to that school], but there are others [who] actively want to be on those campuses, to be the [Jewish, pro-Israel] voice.”

Shavalian went on to speak about the college counselors’ role, saying, “In our department, we have worked very hard to make sure our students have all of the right facts, information, and resources, and [that they] show their authentic selves in the application process.”

While the rise in Antisemitism on college campuses is worrisome and fear-inducing for many of our community members, it prompts students like Benjamin H. to be more active than ever with Jewish life on campus.