Frequently Asked Questions

The National Campus Jewish Alliance is a national network of diverse groups of Jewish higher education workers – led by faculty, Ph.D. students, and staff – united by our commitments to critical inquiry, freedom of expression, and multiracial democracy on our campuses and beyond.  We organize against the misuse of Jewish history, memory, and identity to erode higher education, silence dissent, and advance authoritarian projects locally, nationally, and internationally. We fight against escalating antisemitism as well as the use of accusations of antisemitism to advance censorship, repression, and persecution.

The network is made up of local groups that communicate and coordinate via the National Hub. The Hub supports locals in their organizing and speaks publicly with the unified voice of NCJA.  Hub members also compile and host written and other resources; help to connect leaders; and offer peer coaching and support. 

The local chapters are the most important organizing unit within NCJA.  They are self-organized formations of Jewish higher education workers (typically faculty, staff, and Ph.D. students).  Chapters can be limited to a single campus or can encompass several campuses in a city, state, or region.

You can find a non-exhaustive list of existing locals here.  If your campus/city/state/region already has a group, we would love to talk with you about affiliating it with the national organization (see the answer to the next question).  If there is none in your area, please fill out the intake form. 

To receive email updates (including action opportunities) from NCJA, fill out this contact form. To get connected to – or create! – a local NCJA affiliate, fill out this intake form.

To affiliate with NCJA, a local must appoint 2-3 delegates to the National Hub and commit to the NCJA Points of Agreement.  Locals otherwise retain complete discretion regarding their own internal governance and decisionmaking. 

Yes!  NCJA also has an “at-large” local, which includes everyone who is located outside a region or institution where they could build a local of their own.  The at-large local takes advantage of NCJA’s national scope to provide community to Jewish faculty and staff who cannot access it otherwise.

Thank you for your support! To stay up to date with NCJA happenings and opportunities to take action, no matter where you are, fill out this supporter form. You can also donate to NCJA here.

In addition, each local group featured on our site provides a description of who participates in it, and some include members from groups beyond faculty, staff, and PhD students at the local level.

NCJA offers support calls for members and aligned supporters on campuses to draw on the collective experiences of other local leaders and work through problems and questions together.

Yes, NCJA understands that there are many reasons why members might want to keep their participation publicly anonymous and will never require that your name be shared publicly.

NCJA members hold widely-ranging relationships to and opinions about Zionism, Israel, and Palestine, and NCJA has not taken any formal positions on any of them.  However, the commitments in our Mission Statement and Points of Agreement mean that NCJA insists on the legitimacy of advocacy for Palestine, on the right to criticize Israel and Zionism, as well on the right to research, teach, and interrogate those and other other related concepts.  These commitments also mean that NCJA rejects the conflation of those things with antisemitism or the idea that they are, in and of themselves, threats to Jews or Jewish safety.

NCJA is a national network comprised specifically of Jewish higher education workers, coming together across academic disciplines, staff roles, and geographic locations to work toward our mission. There are many groups working on campuses, in Jewish Studies, and in the fight for democracy on-campus and off, and many of our members are part of other groups in addition to NCJA. 

Our mission is closely aligned with that of Diaspora Alliance, which is providing organizing and administrative support to NCJA.