Alexis Calatayud, Allison Tant move to expand Jewish campus safety protections

On Monday and Tuesday, lawmakers and advocates will fill the Capitol for Israel Day, celebrating the Florida-Israel relationship and the practical ways it shows up here at home.

But for Miami Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud and Tallahassee Democratic Rep. Allison Tant, both championing Florida’s groundbreaking Jewish campus safety work, the message this week is not only about partnership overseas, but also about protection and belonging on campus.

This year’s funding proposal takes Florida’s first-in-the-nation pilot that proved it can move the needle and scales it from three universities to seven. In 2025, Florida became the first in the nation to fund a research-backed pilot initiative on three flagship campuses to protect Jewish college students. This year’s funding proposal will expand the footprint of these efforts, with an estimated reach of 25,000-plus Jewish students across Florida’s higher education institutions.

The original project was launched as a pilot at the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of South Florida, pairing practical security and building hardening with a broader “campus climate” strategy: more training, stronger relationships, and a more organized response when incidents occur. That pilot approach also emphasized measurement, not just messaging – gathering data on campus experiences and comparing outcomes at pilot campuses with those at campuses without the intervention.

This new funding request – the Florida Hillels Jewish Student Safety Initiative – seeks to scale that model, wrapping in Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, University of Central Florida, and the University of Miami, to the original three campuses with a combined request of $2.3 million in state funds for FY 2026-27.

Research was conducted through the 2025 pilot phase, led by Burson, a third-party, independent analytics firm. Their report illuminates that while Florida students’ experiences with antisemitism look so much better than the nation’s, real challenges remain in day-to-day campus life for Jewish students, staff, and faculty.

A 2025 survey of Jewish college students on Florida campuses found:

— Nearly half (47%) experienced antisemitism on campus in the last 12 months, including being targeted, excluded, or harassed for their beliefs. Nationally, almost double the share of Jewish students (83%) reported these experiences – showing Florida’s more favorable environment while underscoring the work still to be done.

— 2 in 3 (67%) reported having felt uncomfortable expressing Jewish identity on campus.

— More than half (56%) knew Jewish students who avoided activities due to safety.

— 1 in 3 (32%) witnessed Jewish students or staff being targeted or excluded.

— Only 1 in 4 (25%) say they felt very safe discussing religion or identity in class.

The 2026 expansion plan keeps the “two-track” structure: tangible safety improvements paired with education, relationships, and support services. This approach includes building hardening, security staff and training, threat surveillance, cultural programming to share Jewish life, a curated curriculum to combat antisemitism, community relations through dedicated liaisons, specialized counseling and training, and a longitudinal data study to track student experiences and antisemitic threats and incidents.

To Calatayud, the project stands for Florida’s willingness to do what other states shy away from.

“Florida doesn’t have to accept the national status quo on campus antisemitism. The pilot proved we can pair real security upgrades with the education and relationships that prevent incidents in the first place,” said Calatayud. “This project continues those efforts by scaling what works, measuring it honestly, and making sure Jewish students can show up on campus without looking over their shoulder.”

Tant, a sponsor of the 2025 pilot, sees the effort as one that can avoid hate and violence, not only toward Jewish students but that impacts their peers on campus, too.

“We have learned that those who target Jews are more likely to threaten safety broadly. This initiative intercepts hate, strengthens trust across differences, and makes FL the nation’s safest choice for Jewish students and their allies,” Tant said. “This initiative is about taking concrete steps – security, support, and accountability – and expanding them so more Florida campuses get the benefit of what we’ve learned.”