As antisemitism infiltrates college campuses, this free speech-focused school expects a flood of applicants

A university dedicated to free speech opened enrollment for its founding class Wednesday and expects aspiring college students to flock toward their institution and away from universities with one-sided, radical ideologies as antisemitism infiltrates college campuses, a school provost told Fox News. 

"There needs to be reform. The system is broken," University of Austin Intellectual Foundations Program Director Jacob Howland said. "That's what we are hoping to correct at the University of Austin." 

AS ANTISEMITISM INFILTRATES COLLEGES, THIS SCHOOL EXPECTS A FLOOD OF APPLICANTS:

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The Texas-based college was founded in November 2021 on the principles of freedom of inquiry, freedom of conscience and civil discourse as other institutions have faced increased backlash for squelching free speech and allowing antisemitism to run rampant on college campuses. The university was granted its certification by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Oct. 26, according to the school's website.

The University of Austin plans to accept 100 candidates, though it received around 20 to 25 inquiries a day from interested students in the weeks before the school started accepting applications, Howland said. The entire class will receive full scholarships for four years.

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"It is only fitting then that we invest in the next generation of builders, innovators, and creators, who deserve an education steeped in academic freedom and oriented towards the pursuit of wisdom," the University of Austin President Pano Kanelos said in a statement Wednesday. 

Over 6,000 professors have sought teaching jobs at the University of Austin and the college has hosted more than 500 students from 30 states and two dozen countries in its initial programs, according to the school's press release. The university has also raised $200 million dollars from donors.

"There's been tremendous interest in what we have to offer because we've been offering not-for-credit academic programs like … intellectual foundations, high school seminars, forbidden courses in the summer," Howland said. "These have been hugely oversubscribed and popular, and so we know that there's a big appetite out there."

The university's forbidden courses, which have been offered in the summers, provide students with classroom settings where they can "inquire openly into vexing questions" about controversial subjects "with honesty and without fear of shame," the university's website states.

Meanwhile, pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrations have erupted across the U.S. in response to Hamas' brutal Oct. 7 attacks and Israel's retaliatory attacks on Gaza. Many colleges have seen anti-Israel rallies paired with antisemitic incidents and violent threats, leaving some Jewish students feeling unsafe on campus. 

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"What that response indicates is the real bankruptcy of higher education for a lot of these students," Howland said. "Their education consists of being given a handful of Post-it notes and then learning how to apply them to the images that are projected on the screens in front of them."

"There's no depth to this understanding because students don't know history," he continued. 

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There were 312 antisemitic incidents nationwide between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23, a nearly 400% year-over-year increase, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Even before the Israel-Hamas war began, antisemitic events were up 41% between 2021 and 2022 on college campuses, ADL data showed.

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"We're simply not going to have any toleration whatsoever for any sort of intimidation," Howland said. "If you have people chanting ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free’ … That's an implicit threat that is threatening to Jewish students."

Several demonstrations on college campuses have shown pro-Palestinian protesters repeating the chant, which ADL considers a call for Israel's elimination. A college student at Cooper Union, for instance, said she felt threatened after pro-Palestinian protesters were "calling for the murder of Jews" at a demonstration.

Some university donors have halted future giving over colleges' responses — or lack thereof — to anti-Israel protests and rhetoric. For example, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a University of Pennsylvania alumnus, announced he would no longer donate to his alma mater for staying silent immediately following Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack. 

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"I think we're the only university in the country that seeks to develop explicitly sound judgment, practical wisdom," Howland said. "We want to equip students with is an understanding of the whole of things, not just a partial little bit of knowledge."

"The kind of student we're looking for is outward facing, who wants to go into the world and use their knowledge and their understanding and their good judgment to help to mend the world," he said. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this article said the University of Austin became fully accredited on Oct. 26. It’s only been granted its certification.

Isabelle McDonnell contributed to the accompanying video.