U.S. Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05) announced the launch of a bipartisan congressional caucus focused on combating antisemitism on college campuses during a visit to Vanderbilt University in Nashville on Tuesday.
The Combating Antisemitism on College Campuses Caucus will focus on congressional oversight of how colleges and universities respond to antisemitism and efforts to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff, according to the lawmakers.
The announcement came during a discussion at Vanderbilt featuring Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and university leaders from the University of Kentucky, the University of Texas at Austin, Dartmouth College, the University of Alabama, and Washington University in St. Louis. The panel examined how universities are addressing antisemitism while maintaining protections for free expression.
Today, I joined my colleague @RepJoshG at @VanderbiltU in Nashville, TN to launch our new bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Combating Antisemitism on College Campuses.
Our conversation featured higher ed leader Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and five visiting… pic.twitter.com/iEaH17CJjh
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) September 9, 2026
“Since October 7th, Jewish students on too many campuses have been harassed, intimidated, and made to feel like strangers in their own school,” Gottheimer said. “That’s why Elise and I are teaming up to launch this caucus to hold universities accountable, back up the schools getting it right, like Vanderbilt, and make sure every Jewish kid can have a college experience without fear of discrimination or violence.”
Stefanik said the caucus builds on her congressional work addressing antisemitism and what she described as anti-Americanism in higher education.
“I am proud to launch this bipartisan congressional caucus with my friend and colleague Representative Josh Gottheimer,” Stefanik said, adding that the two lawmakers are “committed to saving American higher education for the next generation.”
The caucus will coordinate congressional oversight, press universities to enforce their anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies, advance legislation addressing campus antisemitism and BDS-related (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) discrimination, and highlight universities that lawmakers say are implementing effective policies.
The effort comes amid elevated levels of reported antisemitic incidents on college campuses following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. The Anti-Defamation League reported 1,694 antisemitic incidents on college campuses in 2024, an 84 percent increase from 2023.
As The Tennessee Star previously reported, Vanderbilt updated its Student Handbook in August 2024 to revise its policies governing protests, demonstrations, and campus installations. The changes followed a 40-day “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” on campus between March and May of that year.
The revised policies prohibited overnight outdoor gatherings, including camping and sleeping, and established additional restrictions on demonstrations and temporary campus installations. Vanderbilt said the changes were intended to establish reasonable “time, place and manner” restrictions while maintaining an environment for free expression.
The policy changes followed other demonstrations at Vanderbilt, including a March 2024 pro-Palestinian sit-in during which nearly 30 students entered the then-closed Kirkland Hall. Several students were charged and suspended following the incident.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Elise Stefanik and Josh Gottheimer” by Elise Stefanik.
