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Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive order Friday directing the state’s higher education commission to review Indiana colleges’ and universities’ policies regarding antisemitism and to review their responses to acts of antisemitism.
“With this executive order, we are making it clear that Indiana will not tolerate antisemitic discrimination at our state institutions or anywhere else—Jewish Hoosiers should know the state of Indiana condemns antisemitism and stands with them,” Braun said in a written statement.
The order calls on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to conduct a review of school policies regarding antisemitism and their responses to any incidents following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
IBJ has sought additional clarity from the governor’s office regarding how it defines and what it considers to be acts of antisemitism.
The order comes days after the U.S. Department of Education sent a warning to dozens of higher education institutions, including Indiana University, saying they may face unspecified sanctions for failing to protect Jewish students under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Pro-Palestine demonstrators and police clashed on IU’s Bloomington campus, resulting in dozens of arrests in spring 2024. Protesters occupied Dunn Meadow, a designated demonstration area since the 1960s, for several months while calling on the university to dissolve existing partnerships with Israel.
During this time, students, faculty and members of the public questioned the university’s response to the protests—which included a late-night change to campus free expression policies and interventions by riot police. In August 2024, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a federal lawsuit challenging the university’s expressive activity policy as violating the First Amendment.
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