Trump advocates for Jews on campus, but Jewish students largely reject him

(ANALYSIS) On Dec. 11, President Trump signed an executive order targeting what he perceives as antisemitism on college campuses. The order interprets Judaism as not just a religion, but a race or nationality, to strengthen protections for Jewish students under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title IV), which “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin” but does not specifically mention religion. The order threatens to withhold federal money from institutions that fail to protect Jewish students from discrimination on campus.

“My Administration is committed to combating the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic incidents in the United States and around the world. Anti-Semitic incidents have increased since 2013, and students, in particular, continue to face anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on university and college campuses... Discrimination against Jews may give rise to a Title VI violation when the discrimination is based on an individual’s race, color, or national origin,” the report reads.

At the Israeli American Council National Summit just a few days before he signed the order, President Trump told the audience, “The Jewish State has never had a better friend in the White House than your President, Donald J. Trump… So many of you voted for people in the last administration. Someday you’ll have to explain that to me, because I don’t think they liked Israel too much.” 

He then invited Adela Cojab, a recent graduate of New York University, to the podium. She took legal action against NYU just two weeks before graduation, because of what she saw as a failure to protect Jewish students from harassment and physical assault. Her case prompted a Department of Education investigation into NYU. “Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you all for supporting the work that we do on campus,” she concluded, before Trump proceeded to criticize Democratic lawmakers for their positions and statements on Israel.

How will Jewish students respond to these developments when it comes election time next November? 

IDEALS data on Jewish students over four years in college (2015-2019), mostly taking place during Trump’s first term, suggest that it is unlikely Jewish students will follow Adela Cojab’s lead in supporting President Trump’s reelection aspirations, despite his efforts to court them with new policies. 

The Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS) surveyed thousands of students at three different times over their four years in college: at the beginning and end of their first year (time 1 and time 2) and the end of their fourth year (time 3) to determine how students’ attitudes might be changing in college. IDEALS data suggests that Trump faces an uphill climb with Jewish student voters in 2020 for three reasons:

1. Jewish students identify strongly with the liberal side of American politics, and only become more politically liberal over four years of college. While Jewish students identifying as liberal and very liberal each grew between 3-4% between their first and fourth year, conservative Jews declined by 3% and moderate Jews declined by 6%. Zero Jewish students in the four-year IDEALS sample identified as "very conservative." 

Time 1: Beginning of their first year; Time 3: End of their fourth year.

2. Jewish students grow increasingly positive toward political liberals and increasingly negative toward political conservatives over four years of college. Among Jewish students, "high appreciation" for political liberals went up 9%, but went down 10% for political conservatives. High appreciation for liberals increased at about the same rate that high appreciation for conservatives decreased.

Time 1: Beginning of their first year; Time 2: End of their first year; Time 3: End of their fourth year

82.2% of Jewish students voted Democrat in 2016, according to IDEALS research.

3. In 2016, Jewish students voted Republican at a significantly lower percentage than the general Jewish population. IDEALS shows that 82.2% of Jewish students voted Democrat in 2016 -- this is over 10% more than Jews in the general population (71%), while only 3% voted Republican -- this is 21% less than Jews in the general population (24%).

The number of politically conservative students “highly appreciative” of Jews grew by 15% over four years in college, according to IDEALS research.

But interestingly, politically conservative students grow more highly appreciative of Jews in college. The number of politically conservative students "highly appreciative" of Jews grew by 15% over four years in college. Most of these had moderate attitudes about Jews when entering college.

Could this be because Trump’s rhetoric was perceived by politically conservative students to be positive toward Jewish people, and they followed his lead? While we cannot know for sure, what is clear is that the growth in high appreciation was not mutual. Though conservative students’ attitudes toward Jewish students improved over four years in college, Jewish student attitudes toward conservatives only got worse.

Whatever Trump’s intentions are regarding his gestures toward Jews, Jewish students have not responded by becoming more politically conservative. Rather, over the first three years of Trump’s first term (including moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem), they became more politically liberal and less conservative. In their second year of college, they voted for Hillary Clinton at a higher percentage than all Jewish adults. At the end of their fourth year, only 33% of Jewish students said they were highly appreciative of political conservatives.

This raises the question: If symbolic legislative gestures by Trump aren’t winning Jewish students, what will? It seems there may be issues of concern for Jewish students that Trump is not addressing. A group of Jewish studies professors told The Jewish News of North California that rather than being a serious effort to protect the civil rights of Jewish students, they perceived the executive order as a ploy to score political points with evangelical Christians, a key part of his voting base. They also pointed to the rise of white nationalism that has only served to threaten Jews during Trump’s presidency. 

“If there is anyone promoting anti-Semitism and violent attacks on Jews, it’s the president,” professor David Biale, director of Jewish studies at UC Davis, remarked. “He’s not saying ‘go into a synagogue and kill Jews.’ But he creates an atmosphere in which such attacks are possible.” Other media has suggested that Jews are divided about the executive order; some praise the order for being long overdue and showing strong support for Jews where they need it the most.

However, on college campuses where the order should theoretically have the greatest effect, it seems more likely to fall on highly skeptical ears. Only time will tell how Jewish students vote in the next presidential election, but barring something truly historic, the Democratic candidate should enjoy strong support from Jewish students in 2020.

Kevin Singer is a PhD Student at NC State University and Research Associate for the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (@kevinsinger0).

Matthew Mayhew is the William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration at The Ohio State University (@MattJMayhewPhD).

Alyssa Rockenbach is a professor of higher education at North Carolina State University (@ANRockenbach).