University College London has axed its dedicated Antisemitism Programme Manager, a UCL source told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
UCL’s Antisemitism Programme Manager position was started in November 2022, and has been held by Anthony Orkin for that whole period. It was the first and only dedicated antisemitism role at any UK university.
The source told the Post that the role helped to respond to an 841% increase in antisemitism reported through UCL’s own Report and Support system in the year following October 7, 2023, “responding with sensitivity, expertise and urgency to an unprecedented and sustained volume of incidents, concerns and requests for support.”
Orkin held confidential support sessions for Jewish students and staff, delivered training and awareness sessions to over 2,430 students, staff, and stakeholders across UCL and beyond, and arranged and facilitated CST antisemitism training for UCL’s senior security staff in April 2025.
Most recently, Orkin delivered an antisemitism awareness session to the EDI Community of Practice on May 21, achieving an average participant feedback score of 4.75 out of 5.
“The importance of this role at this moment cannot be overstated,” the source told the Post. “Jewish students and staff at UCL need dedicated expert support at the most difficult time for the community in recent memory.”
UCL ‘talks a good game’ but doesn’t act, student Dov Forman tells ‘Post’
Author, influencer, and UCL student Dov Forman, told the Post that “Anthony is one of the few things they were genuinely getting right. I have no doubt that Jewish students will be worse off at UCL and will feel his departure immediately.”
“So many of my friends didn’t speak to anyone except Anthony about the antisemitism they faced, because they knew that anywhere else and with anyone else at the university, they’d be met with skepticism, bureaucracy, and resistance. He was the trusted expert they had confidence in and could turn to.
“The demand for his expertise has, unfortunately, been overwhelming and, sadly, for good reason. UCL talks a good game on antisemitism, but when it comes to action, it has too often been lackluster.”
Antisemitism complaints will now be tackled by UCL’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team, overseen by Addeel Khan. Khan happens to also be the communications manager and trustee for Save One Life, a charity investigated by the UK’s Charity Commission last year over allegations that funds raised for Gaza may have been diverted to Hamas.
