PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — On Monday, Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 48 to expand his efforts to combat antisemitism at Virginia public schools and institutions of higher education.
This comes after surveys conducted by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) found an increase in antisemitism incidents in schools after the terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that led to the Israel-Hamas war, which is still ongoing.
Governor Glenn Youngkin said in part, “No one should be unsafe in the classroom or on campus or feel targeted because of their religion or heritage.”
The Secretary of Education, the Virginia Department of Education and the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia has been ordered to develop resources that will help local school divisions to prevent, track, report and follow up on antisemitic and anti-religious bigotry incidents.
In addition, school SOLs will now include Judaism, Jewish history and Holocaust awareness, and law enforcement throughout the Commonwealth will be trained for antisemitism awareness.
The full executive order can be viewed below:
