Chicago has become one of the nation’s largest cities to unanimously codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism into municipal law— an extraordinary move driven not by veteran political leaders, but by two college students who say they felt compelled to act as antisemitic incidents surged across Illinois campuses.

DePaul University student Michael Kaminsky, a survivor of a 2024 campus hate-crime attack, and Jake Rymer of the University of Chicago spent months lobbying City Council members after what they described as an explosion of harassment following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel. Their effort culminated in a rare unanimous vote, providing Chicago with an internationally recognized standard for identifying and responding to modern forms of antisemitism.

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Adam Erkan, 20, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery. He attacked two Jewish students at DePaul University last year. He was sentenced to two years of probation along with 100 hours of community service, according to Fox 32 Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images; Chicago Police Department)

Supporters say the ordinance answers a growing call from Jewish communities for more than rhetorical condemnations.

“This gives officials something concrete to work with,” one advocate involved in the effort said. “It creates clarity where there has been confusion.”

Jewish leaders say the Chicago vote and New York rollback reflect a widening divide among major U.S. cities over how aggressively to confront antisemitism at a moment when attacks and harassment are climbing nationwide.

The Chicago decision comes as antisemitism remains at the center of national debates over campus safety, free speech, and civil-rights enforcement. It also stands in sharp contrast to recent developments in New York City.

Jewish students at several New York City universities expressed fear and concern following socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory, warning it could endanger the city’s Jewish community. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images; John Lamparski/Getty Images)

New York had previously adopted the IHRA definition, but that policy was reversed during the first week of newly inaugurated Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s term — a move that alarmed Jewish leaders and advocacy groups who viewed the rollback as occurring amid a period of escalating threats and harassment.

That policy shift has taken on renewed urgency following a disturbing incident in Brooklyn last month, when a vehicle was deliberately driven into the entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters while people were gathered inside. The NYPD charged the suspect with assault as a hate crime. No injuries were reported, but the attack rattled worshippers and prompted heightened security around Jewish institutions citywide.

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Community leaders say the timing underscores why clarity in policy matters.

With antisemitic incidents continuing to spike nationwide, they argue, rolling back formal definitions risks sending mixed signals to schools, civil-rights investigators and law-enforcement agencies tasked with responding to bias-motivated conduct.

Advocates in Chicago maintain that adopting IHRA could have ripple effects far beyond universities.

On Aug. 19, 2024, several groups marched to protest the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. (Asra Q. Nomani)

In fact, administrators often hesitate to intervene in antisemitic harassment because they don’t have a clear understanding of what constitutes anti-Jewish discrimination or prejudice. And that lack of clarity has real-world consequences.

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City statistics highlight the stakes. Chicago recorded a 58% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2024, with incidents targeting Jews accounting for more than a third of all reported hate crimes — despite Jews comprising an estimated three to four percent of the city’s population.

Supporters say codifying the IHRA definition gives law-enforcement agencies, school systems and civil-rights investigators a consistent benchmark when evaluating complaints, developing training programs, and responding to bias-motivated conduct, including cases tied to Israel-related rhetoric.

Students gather for a protest after authorities dismantle tents at DePaul University’s Quad grounds, ending a 17-day pro-Palestinian protest, in Chicago on May 16, 2024. (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

For Kaminsky and Rymer, the campaign was deeply personal.

Both students say they encountered hostility on campus that left them frustrated by what they perceived as institutional paralysis — administrators unsure how to act, investigations delayed and Jewish students feeling isolated.

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Hundreds of anti-Israel agitators stage a demonstration outside of NYU’s Stern School of Business in Manhattan on April 22, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

Their success has turned them into unlikely symbols of grassroots activism at a moment when antisemitism has become one of the most contentious civil-rights issues in American public life.

Jewish leaders across the country are now watching closely.

Some view Chicago’s move as a model for municipalities seeking to address hate crimes and school-based harassment more systematically. Others fear that hesitation — or reversals — in major cities like New York could slow broader efforts to standardize how antisemitism is identified and confronted.

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The diverging paths of Chicago and New York, advocates say, reveal a broader national test: whether political leaders will translate concern into concrete protections — or leave Jewish communities wondering who will step up when threats become reality.