The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary invited Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin to testify at its hearing: “Never to be Silent: Stemming the Tide of Antisemitism in America,” which took place March 5, 2025. The other witnesses included Adela Cojab, a legal fellow at the National Jewish Advocacy Center, Pearl Project Founder Asra Q. Nomani, Washington Director of the Nexus Project Kevin Rachlin, and Meirav Solomon, a student at Tufts University. This was the first Senate Judiciary Committee hearing convened specifically to address anti-Semitism since the terror attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. Unlike previous hearings that addressed hate crimes in general, this session focused solely on rising rates of anti-Semitism and the actions our elected leaders can take to reverse the problem. In her opening remarks, Ms. Lewin emphasized, “what’s taking place on campus is not a good faith political debate. It is the vilification of Jews.” She highlighted how Jewish students across the country are being harassed, excluded, and targeted simply for expressing their Jewish identity, which for many Jews includes their ancestral connection to the land of Israel. Lewin stressed that universities must be held accountable for allowing environments where Jewish students are attacked, disparaged and ostracized; calling for stronger enforcement of protections and institutional consequences for schools that fail to act. Lewin emphasized the urgent need for universities and policymakers to adopt clear standards in addressing anti-Semitism: “Start off with adopting the IHRA definition . . . codify the Executive Order 13899… because that will help [administrators] understand and recognize the difference between a political debate and the vilification of Jews.” Lewin underscored the importance of having a working definition of anti-Semitism when educating society on how to accurately combat anti-Semitism. Throughout the hearing, Senators also questioned how universities should respond to incidents of anti-Semitism. When asked about this, Lewin said, “for universities, the first thing is they have to set the rules, and then they have to stick to them. They have to show that if you violate the rules, you will be held accountable. That is the most important thing that the universities have to do.” Administrators frequently seek to encourage dialogue between groups. Lewin, however, emphasized that, “dialogue only works when you have willing participants.” As Lewin explained, today the students on campus are rarely engaging in dialogue, or even debate, because anti-Zionist students are increasingly refusing to engage with their Jewish and Zionist peers. Lewin shared an example from New York University (NYU) in 2019, when Adela Cojab was still a student, where 53 student organizations voted to endorse a boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution that called on them to boycott NYU’s pro-Israel student groups (in addition to boycotting Israeli products and companies that do business with Israel). In response, the NYU administration hired a professional facilitator to facilitate a dialogue among the students. The effort, however, failed, because while the Jewish students were interested in having a conversation, the anti-Zionist students from the 53 student organizations refused to speak to the “Zionists.” Lewin stressed that in order to effectively address today’s campus anti-Semitism, university administrators must address the shunning and marginalizing of Jewish and Israeli students. Lewin also highlighted the importance of enforcing existing civil rights protections to ensure that Jewish students are safeguarded from harassment and discrimination. “We need to… make sure that we are holding accountable anyone who is violating Title VI,” she urged. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs, and Lewin emphasized that it must be strictly applied to cases of anti-Semitism on campus. She criticized universities and federal agencies for failing to adequately investigate and address anti-Semitism incidents, calling for stronger enforcement mechanisms to hold institutions accountable. Watch Alyza Lewin’s opening statement below, or watch the full hearing here. Authored By: Bailey Spitz and Joshua Schwartz