Penn received a \u201cB\u201d rating on the Anti-Defamation League\u2019s 2026 Campus Antisemitism Report Card, an improvement from the University\u2019s \u201cC\u201d rating in 2025.<\/p>\n
The ADL\u2019s annual report<\/a> \u2014 which has tracked \u201cthe current state of antisemitism\u201d on college campuses for three years \u2014 rated Penn \u201cabove expectations\u201d in publicly disclosed administrative actions and \u201cexcellent\u201d in Jewish life. However, the organization referenced broader concerns about \u201ccampus conduct and climate.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, ADL Philadelphia Senior Regional Director Andrew Goretsky highlighted improvements both at Penn and nationally, as well as changes to the ADL\u2019s metrics while evaluating campus dynamics. \u00a0<\/p>\n According to Goretsky, Penn\u2019s higher grade reflects the University\u2019s efforts to support Jewish students on campus, including the work of Penn Hillel and Chabad, the Jewish Studies Program, and other opportunities for Jewish education.<\/p>\n A University spokesperson declined a request to comment.<\/p>\n Goretsky credited Penn for establishing the Office of Religious and Ethnic Interests and cited the office\u2019s programming as a key campus resource for investigations, mediations, and support.\u00a0<\/p>\n He added that \u201cwhen other institutions reach out to me and ask\u201d how to approach campus antisemitism, he points to Penn and Temple University as examples of how to \u201caddress these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, Goretsky said the report card adjusted its evaluative framework to account for changing conditions on campus nationwide. He said that severe antisemitic incidents have been highly weighted in determining the rating in past years, but that their weight has been decreased this year to account for falling frequency.<\/p>\n \u201cThere has been a nationally documented decline in severe incidents,\u201d Goretsky added. \u201cThe weighting of severe and other incidents criteria has been slightly reduced.\u201d<\/p>\n Criteria that were previously \u201cassessed as extra credit,\u201d such as a campus climate assessment and rules \u201cpolicing\u201d encampments and event disruption, also became part of the core grading framework this year.<\/p>\n In June 2024, Penn implemented<\/a> temporary guidelines on open expression<\/a> in response to a semester that saw increased protests and tensions on campus, including an encampment<\/a> on College Green that lasted 16 days.<\/p>\n The temporary guidelines banned encampments, which Goretsky identified as one of the criteria considered in the ADL\u2019s rating. Having previously served as an administrator at Arcadia University and a teacher of higher education law and policy at Temple, Goretsky also spoke to the limits of free speech protections on campus.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have the right to make the argument you want to make,\u201d Goretsky said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have the right to disrupt somebody else\u2019s ability to get the education or to learn something that they\u2019re trying to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n He described himself as \u201ca huge advocate and proponent for maintaining free speech rights,\u201d while maintaining \u201cthat schools have the responsibility to protect the environment for all students.\u201d<\/p>\n The report comes as Penn faces an ongoing investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over allegations of antisemitism on campus. The EEOC\u2019s investigation \u2014 which includes a subpoena that requests information on Jewish students and faculty \u2014 sparked criticism from various members of the Penn community and external organizations, including the ADL.\u00a0<\/p>\n In collaboration with the American Jewish Committee of Philadelphia and Southern Jersey and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, ADL Philadelphia released a statement<\/a> in November 2025 responding to \u201cthe privacy and constitutional implications\u201d of the EEOC\u2019s investigative efforts.<\/p>\n While the organizations noted their shared commitment with the EEOC to combat antisemitism, they cautioned against \u201cany effort (even those that are well-intentioned) to force the production of a list of Jewish faculty, staff, and students by religious affiliation, along with confidential responses from participants in Penn\u2019s internal Antisemitism Task Force.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHistory has taught us to be vigilant when governments compile lists of people based on religious identity, and we hope that the EEOC\u2019s important work can continue without such a list,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n In November 2025, the EEOC filed a lawsuit<\/a> alleging that Penn failed to comply with the agency\u2019s requirements. At the time, a University spokesperson told the DP that Penn \u201ccooperated extensively\u201d with the EEOC but would not provide \u201cpersonal and confidential\u201d information of students and employees without their consent.\u00a0On March 10, a federal judge heard oral arguments<\/a> as part of the lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cI stand by that statement that the joint of us put out back when we first learned about the investigation,\u201d Goretsky told the DP.<\/p>\n