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DEI DELIBERATIONS

Jewish groups are reassessing their embrace of DEI

While many Jewish organizations supported DEI efforts before Oct. 7, some are now realizing the ideology’s shortcomings

Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Jewish counter protesters shout and waves signs at students from Brooklyn College during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the entrance of the campus.

Weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks in Israel — and as anti-Israel rhetoric soared on U.S. campuses as the war between Israel and Hamas played out — diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy at colleges came under intense scrutiny for failing to address the rising anti-Jewish hate on campuses — and at times perpetuating it. 

Critics said that the problems within DEI programming were systemic, and that efforts to engage were a mistake.

DEI programs around the country designed to promote inclusion have largely excluded Jewish students. Universities in particular have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in DEI programming and administration in recent years. On some campuses, the implementation of the DEI framework has mandated that employees sign commitments to foster diversity and apply the ideology to their work. Jewish leaders have criticized the framework as reinforcing biases and illiberalism.

Leading Jewish communal organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League, defended DEI in the months following Oct. 7, telling Jewish Insider that they still preferred to work within that system — urging universities to better incorporate Jews into a worldview that sought to uplift minorities, often imperfectly, instead of calling on them to dismantle the ideology behind it altogether.

More than a year later, President Donald Trump, on his first day back in office, signed an executive order to dismantle federal programs that promote DEI. The president has since called for federal agencies to look for “illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI,” in universities. 

Jewish groups are now divided on their embrace of the DEI framework — but nearly all recognize shortcomings in the ideology.   

In a statement to JI, Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, distanced the organization from DEI. “The Jewish Federations of North America work to build a culture of belonging that allows every individual in our diverse community to fully engage in Jewish life,” Fingerhut said. “We invite everyone to come view and participate in this work. We have never, and do not now, associate ourselves or adopt the practices associated with the DEI movement as that has come to be understood and practiced in recent years on campus and in other sectors.” 

Sara Coodin, the American Jewish Committee’s director of academic affairs, remained willing to work within a DEI framework — but acknowledged a shift over the last year. 

“We’re a Jewish advocacy organization, so our primary imperative is to deal with campus antisemitism and to confront it,” Coodin said, noting that “if DEI is the best conduit to do that,” then the AJC will work with it. “And we have absolutely worked with some very productive partners in the DEI space,” she said.

At the same time,”if the structure has shifted in major ways that are out of our control, we will work with whatever partners are going to be in place to do the work on campuses nationwide,” Coodin said. “We have seen the last year as a stress test for almost every university across the country … It’s sad to say that many schools, particularly schools where there’s high Jewish populations, have failed that test and we see that very clearly.”

“We can’t continue to pretend like providing antisemitism education is going to remedy the situation,” Coodin said. “There are going to be cases where a tougher approach is needed in order to move the needle [and] that’s a shift from a pre-Oct. 7 position.” 

In December 2023, both the AJC and ADL told JI that their organizations were taking the engage-and-influence approach — and had been doing so well before Oct. 7. The ADL declined to comment on whether its views have shifted. 

Some smaller, progressive-minded Jewish groups continued to embrace DEI. 

“It’s both possible and necessary to both protect core Jewish and American values of diversity, equity and inclusion and to do so in a way that is truly inclusive of the Jewish community, our identities and our history,” Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, told JI. 

The SRE (Safety Respect Equity) Network, said that “what is happening around us” won’t influence views on equity. 

“We will continue to learn about, celebrate, and honor the full range of identities of those who make up our Jewish nonprofit sector,” Rachel Gildiner, executive director of the SRE Network, which connects over 175 Jewish organizations through network building and community investments, told JI. “In this moment, we reaffirm our commitment to the values that have long been our compass.”  

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