Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) is asking the presidents of the largest colleges and universities in Ohio to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and ensure that their respective institutions have plans in place to combat campus antisemitism during the upcoming school year, Jewish Insider has learned.

Moreno sent letters on Tuesday to the presidents of The Ohio State University, Miami University, Kent State University, Cleveland State University, Youngstown State University, the University of Cincinnati, Central State University, the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, Akron University, Ohio University, Wright State University, Northeast Ohio Medical University and Shawnee State University. 

In the letters, the Ohio senator requested information on how each school was responding to “the unacceptable and disgusting rise in antisemitism” and the ways each plans to “protect students’ safety while on campus from antisemitism and/or other religiously motivated crimes.”

Moreno also urged the schools to adopt the IHRA definition, which he argued “provides clarity on what constitutes antisemitism and can serve as a tool on campus to help combat hate crimes and foster a safer environment for Jewish students.”

“I want to make sure that university leaders are doing all they can to ensure students are free not only to learn on college campuses but also to feel safe while doing so, regardless of their religion,” Moreno wrote.

Moreno praised the Trump administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism in the letters, writing that the White House was “taking strong and necessary action” on the matter.

“Jewish Americans are under attack in this country. Americans have witnessed the manifestation of rampant antisemitism on college campuses all over the country,” Moreno wrote. “Horrifyingly, hate crimes and domestic terrorism have plagued the Jewish community. Recently, in this country, Jewish Americans have been murdered in cold blood and burned alive. These attacks are reminiscent of 1939. It is 2025 – the violence against Jews must stop.”

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is set to make a bid to return to the Senate in 2026, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. 

Brown, who lost his 2024 reelection race by four points to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), will challenge Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), who was appointed earlier this year to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat. President Donald Trump carried the state by more than 11 points in 2024.

The progressive Brown remained relatively popular in the state even as it has trended increasingly red in recent years, and maintained strong ties with the state’s large Jewish community. He had also been floated as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2026, but was strongly courted by Senate Democrats to make a comeback bid.

In late 2024, Brown voted against Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) first efforts to block certain U.S. arms transfers to Israel.

“Senator Brown strongly believes that Israel has a clear and undeniable right to defend itself against Hamas’ brutal terrorism and voted to send military aid to Israel, along with much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza,” a Brown spokesperson said prior to the vote. “Ultimately, Senator Brown believes that Israel and Hamas must agree to a ceasefire that ends the war, frees the hostages, and delivers desperately needed humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.”

Numerous Democrats have since shifted their position on the issue, citing the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.

In 2022, Brown said that he believed that support for Israel was a majority position in both parties, and that those who opposed the Jewish state were a small group of “outliers,” rejecting the notion that “progressive values” were incompatible with support for Israel.

The former Ohio senator, then the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, took a relatively hawkish position on Iran last year, pressing the administration, after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks, to re-freeze Iranian funds previously released under a deal to free Americans held hostage in Iran.

Brown also called on the Biden administration, in early 2024, to re-impose a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation on the Houthis.

Husted has generally been seen as a moderate and has maintained a pro-Israel record in office, opposing efforts to block weapons transfers to Israel, joining with nearly all other Senate Republicans in demanding full dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program, supporting American and Israeli strikes on Iran and backing legislation to increase sanctions on Iran.

Speaking at a Senate hearing on campus antisemitism, Husted said that the disruptions in the days after the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks appeared coordinated.