Register Today: Who Shapes Campus Conversation? What Research Tells us About Faculty Attitudes Toward Israel and Jews
Tuesday, September 15, 12:00 PM ET | Virtual via Zoom
Who Shapes Campus Conversation? What research tells us about faculty attitudes toward Israel and Jews
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm ET
Hosted by CASJE and eJewishPhilanthropy
Zoom
Register >
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In the years since October 7, 2023, colleges and universities across North America have faced increasing scrutiny regarding campus climate, academic discourse, and the experiences of Jewish students, faculty, and staff. Questions about antisemitism, anti-Zionism, academic freedom, institutional response, and ideological bias have become central to conversations within higher education.
This panel will bring together researchers and practitioners to share insights on how these issues emerge in classrooms, academic departments, and university administration. The conversation will also explore concerns regarding bias toward Israel and Jews among faculty and administrative staff in higher education.
The panel will feature:
- Lisa Armony, Vice President, Campus Climate Initiative, Hillel International
- Raeefa Shams, Director of Programs and Partnerships, Academic Engagement Network
- Leonard Saxe, PhD, Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies and Social Policy, Brandeis University
- Graham Wright, PhD, Associate Research Professor, Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Brandeis University
- Yuval Avnur, PhD, Professor of Philosophy, Scripps College
This program is designed for professionals, funders, educators, and communal leaders seeking research informed insights and actionable approaches.
Register to attend or receive the recording >
Please contact naomi [dot] gamoran
gwu [dot] edu with any questions.
Meet the Panel
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Lisa Armony, Hillel International
Vice President, Campus Climate Initiative
- Bio
Lisa Armony serves as Vice President of the Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) at Hillel International, where she leads national efforts to partner with higher education administrators to foster inclusion, belonging, and identity safety for Jewish students across the United States. A seasoned strategist, educator, and leader, Lisa has spent her career building bridge-building platforms, educational frameworks, and community initiatives to combat antisemitism and hate.
Prior to rejoining Hillel in 2022, Lisa served as Chief Impact Officer at the Jewish Federation of Orange County and Director of its Rose Project, where she developed comprehensive civic engagement strategies and leadership programs for teens and adults. As interim Executive Director of Orange County Hillel (2015–2017), she designed an innovative, multi-perspective study tour of Israel and the Palestinian Authority for diverse student leaders—a model that has since been scaled across dozens of campuses globally.
Lisa holds a B.A. magna cum laude from Cornell University, an M.A. in Political Science from Yale University, a dual Master’s in Jewish and Israel Education from The Hebrew University’s Melton School, and a Certificate in Experiential Israel Education from George Washington University/iCenter. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Antisemitism Studies at Gratz College.
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Raeefa Shams, Academic Engagement Network
Director of Programs and Partnerships
- Bio
Raeefa Shams is the Director of Communications and Programming at the Academic Engagement Network. In her role, Raeefa is responsible for communications with AEN members, supporters, media outlets, and AEN’s partner organizations and stakeholders; developing select AEN programs and initiatives, such as the Short Course, regional convenings, and faculty missions to Israel; and contributing to the development of AEN’s overall organizational strategy. She has written for publications such as Religions, eJewishPhilanthropy, the Jewish Journal, and the Algemeiner, and she has spoken about AEN's work at conferences in the US, UK, and Israel. Prior to joining AEN, Raeefa consulted for higher educational institutions and international development organizations. Raeefa earned her B.A. in History from Wellesley College and her M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago. She is a board member of Jewish National Fund-USA.
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Leonard Saxe, PhD, Brandeis University
Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies and Social Policy
- Bio
Leonard Saxe is Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Brandeis University where, for two decades, he directed the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute. He is a social psychologist whose current work focuses on antisemitism, engagement with Israel, and socio-demography. His ongoing programs of research include studies of antisemitism in higher education and the impact of Birthright Israel.
He is committed to the conduct of rigorous research that supports evidence-based policies and programs. Saxe is widely published and has received multiple awards, including the Association for the Scientific Study of Jewry’s Sklare award for lifetime contributions to the understanding of Jewish life. www.brandeis.edu/cmjs
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Graham Wright, PhD, Brandeis University
Professor of Philosophy
- Bio
Dr. Graham Wright is an Associate Research Professor at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Heller School for Social Policy at Brandeis University. Graham is a political scientist, political theorist, and quantitative methodologist. He is the author of Persuasion, Integration, and Deliberative Democracy: The Will of the Whole (Routledge 2025). He has published numerous academic articles exploring the complex intersection between attitudes and identities in American politics, the dynamics of contemporary antisemitism, and American Jews’ relationship to Israel.
His work at the Cohen Center primarily focuses on antisemitism and studies of US college campuses. At the Heller School he teaches classes on statistics and research design.
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Yuval Avnur, PhD, Scripps College
Professor of Philosophy
- Bio
Yuval Avnur is Professor of Philosophy at Scripps College, Claremont. As a philosopher, he is author of numerous works on skepticism, contemporary issues concerning the spread of information, the history of modern philosophy, and philosophy of religion. His latest book is Why Read Pascal Today? (Cambridge University Press). In the field of higher education he is co-author (with Jon Shields and Stephanie Muravchik) of a large project on college syllabi which studies how controversial issues are taught at universities. He is also director of a new non-profit organization, The Curricular Review Council, which promotes improvement in higher education through analysis and informed public discussion.
Moderated by:
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Sasha Volodarsky, PhD, CASJE
Research Digest Editor
- Bio
Dr. Sasha Volodarsky is CASJE's research analyst and editor of the CASJE Research Digest. Dr. Volodarsky's research focuses primarily on antisemitism at US campuses, the impact evaluation of educational programs, and American Jews’ relationship with Israel.
He has authored academic papers on various topics, including operational ideology in the United States, perceptions of antisemitism, the impact of COVID-19 on students' mental health, and the effectiveness of online education.
Before joining CASJE, he worked as a researcher at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute for Applied Research in Israel. He is fluent in Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Russian.
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Judah Ari Gross, eJewishPhilanthropy
Managing Editor
- Bio
Judah Ari Gross is managing editor at eJewishPhilanthropy. Prior to joining eJP, Judah was a correspondent for the Times of Israel, reporting first on the military and then on Israel-Diaspora affairs and religion. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Haifa University. Judah is an inaugural Elson Israel fellow at the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and lives with his family in Zichron Ya’akov, Israel.