Legal Claims Against

UC Santa Barbara

The Brandeis Center filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights  against the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) on behalf of student government president Tessa Veksler, who has been subjected to severe and persistent anti-Semitic harassment by UCSB students on the basis of her Jewish identity. In one instance, students attempted to ban Ms. Veksler from utilizing her office at UCSB’s Multicultural Center (MCC) because she is a Zionist who recognizes that Jews are part of a people with an ancestral connection to Israel. The MCC’s official Instagram page featured a post reading “in case we aren’t clear, let us spell it out: Zionists are not welcomed!” One poster at the MCC threatened “you can run but you can’t hide, Tessa Veksler.” Elsewhere on campus, a poster with Tessa’s picture was violently slashed. Online, students have doxed her, evoked anti-Semitic tropes related to dual-loyalties and Jewish greed, and echoed sentiment that she is unfit to serve in her elected position due to her Jewish identity connected to Israel. The relentless harassment has forced Ms. Veksler to stay off campus and take her exams online, and undermined her ability to effectively lead the student body. By failing to stop the anti-Semitic harassment against Ms. Veksler, UCSB is permitting a hostile environment on its campus in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.