Written by Jeff Robbins for Creators.com; published 9/27/22 . The facts at the core of the current antisemitism scandal at the University of Vermont don’t seem especially disputable, and the University hasn’t really disputed them. A University teaching assistant, feeling perhaps correctly that the University offered a safe space for antisemites, wasn’t content to merely bully Jewish students who identified with Israel. She boasted about it publicly, chortling on social media about her threats to reduce the grades of Jewish kids for whom Israel has personal meaning. . “Is it unethical for me, a TA, to not give Zionists credit for participation???” she tweeted. “I’m trying to be lowkey on social media for Ramadan and it’s going okay so far but (name redacted) keeps sending me Instagram posts from UVM Zionist Instagram accounts and I get the indelible urge to cyberbully and religion goes out the window.” And “serotonin rush of bullying Zionists on the public domain.” . When an Israeli flag was stolen from an off-campus student house, the TA heartily praised the vandalism. “Who stole the Israeli flag,” she tweeted, “I just wanna talk and tell you how cool and special and loved you are… may the wind always be at your back.” And later “at this stage in the game I don’t even want to know who stole it anymore I just want to defend their honor. They are like the spider-man of Burlington, anonymously doing good.” . She appears to fit in nicely at UVM, where the harassment, ostracism and belittling of Jewish identity is, well, as the lady puts it, cool, part of the campus fabric. Jewish students have decried the “vulgar anti-Semitism that Jewish students are experiencing online from student accounts at UVM… Jewish students have every right to be Jewish in their own way and not attacked and have their lived experiences minimized for their religious beliefs, personal practice or connection to Israel.” . Others on campus did not see it quite the same way. Last year, UVM students organized a group called “UVM Empowering Survivors” to support victims of sexual harassment. When Hillel, the Jewish student organization, posted a statement of solidarity, the anti-sexual harassment group rejected it. They would, its leaders proclaimed, “follow the same policy with Zionists that we follow with those who troll or harass others: blocked.” When the Jewish kids reached out to convey the pain that the oppressive exclusion of Jews on campus was causing, they were met with the kind of “Jews Not Welcome” stuff associated with 1930s Germany, not necessarily the purportedly progressive, supposedly civil rights-oriented college quads of Burlington, Vermont. The group would have nothing to do with Jewish kids, it stated; it would instead “hold our peers accountable for their pro-Israel or Zionist stances.” . Then there was the targeting of the Hillel building, increasingly commonplace on American campuses. A group of students spent some 40 minutes throwing rocks at the building’s windows. The University insisted that there was nothing anti-Jewish about an attack on the Jewish students’ campus center, a proposition that tended to be undercut ever so slightly by the evidence that one of the vandals shouted, “Are you Jewish?” while throwing the rocks. . In response to a quite detailed complaint filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, the U.S. Department of Education has opened a formal investigation into whether UVM has fostered or permitted a hostile environment for Jewish students, in violation of the federal civil rights laws. Instead of acknowledging “Burlington, we’ve got a problem,” UVM’s president responded with a statement at once inane and threatening, warning darkly that the investigation would hurt Jewish students. “You’ll be sorry,” he seemed to be telling them. Twenty Jewish organizations denounced UVM’s president for a response that was insensitive, offensive and just plain dumb. . It was Justice Louis Brandeis himself who observed that frequently sunlight is the best disinfectant. Based on what we know so far, UVM could stand some disinfecting, by one means or another. . Jeff Robbins, a former assistant United States attorney and United States delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, was chief counsel for the minority of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. An attorney specializing in the First Amendment, he is a longtime columnist for the Boston Herald, writing on politics, national security, human rights and the Mideast.
Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus will lead a Beinner Family Speakers Series webinar for the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University Bloomington on Sunday, October 23, at 12:00 EDT. His session is titled ‘The Wayward Healer: latrogenic Antisemitism and the Perils of Intervention,’ and registration for the event is now open. . The Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (ISCA) is part of Indiana University Bloomington and was founded in 2009 by Professor Alvin H. Rosenfeld. ISCA, through their lectures and publications, aims to clarify what is new and what has been inherited from the antisemitic lexicons of the past. . The Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism is hosting the Beinner Family Speakers Series this fall. This series aims to discuss topics of antisemitism as explored from the diverse perspectives and communities of the presenters. For more details, please contact Brandeis Center Academic Advisory Board member and Director, Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism Dr. Alvin H. Rosenfeld. . Here is a list of the remaining lectures offered this fall and how to register for them: . Martin Kramer, an historian of the Middle East and Israel at Tel Aviv University and the Walter P. Stern Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, presents: ‘Semites, Anti-Semites, and Bernard Lewis: The Life and Afterlife of a Seminal Book’ on Sunday, October 2 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. . . Thane Rosenbaum, a law professor, legal and Middle East analyst, novelist, essayist, and Distinguished University Professor at Touro University, presents: ‘Occupation, “Apartheid,” and “Ethnic Cleansing”: The Trifecta Libel Against Israel’ on Sunday, October 16 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. . Ofir Winter, a research fellow at INSS and a lecturer at the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University, presents: ‘Making Peace with the Jews? Contemporary Islamic Arguments for and against Normalization’ on Sunday, October 30 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. . . Ben Cohen, the Senior Correspondent for The Algemeiner, presents: ‘Pandemics, Hate Crimes, and Riots: Media Coverage of Antisemitism Since 2020’ on Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. . . Franziska Haug, a research assistant at the Institute for German Literature and its Didactics at the Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, presents: ‘The Function of Antisemitism in Queer-Feminist Discourse’ on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. . . Yana Grinshpun, a senior Lecturer at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, presents: ‘Judeophobia and “Islamophobia” in Today’s France: Symbolism, Doxa, and Reality’ on Sunday, December 4, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Register here. .
On August 29, 2022, Brandeis Center General Counsel and Vice Chair Rachel Lerman appeared on the Portia Project podcast. In the series 46th episode, Lerman discusses the start of her legal journey, the different positions she has held in her legal career, and her work at the Brandeis Center. The Portia Project podcast interviews different female judges and lawyers, highlighting their careers and the challenges they have overcome. It is hosted by highly regarded appellate attorney M.C. Sungaila. To listen to Lerman’s episode, click here.
The German airline Lufthansa became the first airline to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism. . The move came after the airline received heavy backlash following an incident in May. To the disgust of many, over 100 Hasidic Jews were kicked off their connecting flight. In the following weeks, Lufthansa created a new senior management role with the job of preventing discrimination and anti-Semitism. . By adopting the IHRA definition, Lufthansa set a strong example that other German companies can follow. According to Dr. Felix Klein, the Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism, the company now has “an appropriate and effective basis for preventing and combating anti-Semitism.” Lufthansa joins at least 38 countries in endorsing/adopting the IHRA working definition. . Anti-Semitism often gets overlooked, as it can be a difficult concept for many to understand. The IHRA definition has become the leading definition of anti-Semitism worldwide, and it includes specific examples and guidance for fighting anti-Semitism. The definition makes clear what anti-Semitism looks like, and as a result makes it harder for such acts to go unnoticed and unpunished. . To learn more about the implications of the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism, click here. For more information about Lufthansa’s recent moves, see this Jerusalem Post article.
Written by Sara Weissman for Inside Higher Ed on 9/19/22 The president of the University of Vermont, Suresh Garimella, denied allegations of antisemitism against the university, which is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, the Associated Press reported. His response has caused an uproar among some Jewish advocacy groups. Garimella wrote in a statement to students and employees Thursday that the complaint, which alleges campus leaders failed to respond to a series of antisemitic incidents, “painted our community in a patently false light.” “The uninformed narrative published this week has been harmful to UVM,” he said. “Equally importantly, it is harmful to our Jewish students, faculty, staff, and alumni.” According to Garimella, the university addressed the incidents in the complaint, filed last year by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus, a student group focused on exposing antisemitism. He said the university investigated after a teaching assistant posted on social media about lowering Zionist students’ grades but found no discriminatory grading had occurred. He noted that two student groups that reportedly excluded Zionist students were not recognized student organizations and were not bound by university policies. Lastly, he said police concluded that students who threw small rocks at the Hillel Center were friends trying to get the attention of someone living in the building, and no proof of antisemitic bias was found. A joint statement signed by 20 Jewish advocacy organizations, released Friday, said they were “alarmed, disappointed and troubled” by the president’s response and chastised him for offering “inadequate excuses.” “Simply put, President Garimella fails to condemn the existence of significant antisemitism on UVM’s campus,” the statement read. “And instead of summoning the courage that other university leaders across the country have shown in acknowledging the problem or offering support for Jewish students who are fearful about identifying publicly as Jewish, the UVM President’s statement doubles down and refuses to take responsibility.” Matt Vogel, executive director of the University of Vermont Hillel, said in a statement that he could not comment on details of the complaint under investigation, but Hillel officials have met with campus administrators for many months “to amplify student voices and express concerns about the campus climate on behalf of the UVM Jewish community.” “We stand unequivocally with our Jewish students, allies, friends, and family and are committed to helping them bring their voices to the table and be heard by the university,” he said.
Written by Luke Tress for Times of Israel on 9/18/22 . Leading US Jewish groups condemned the University of Vermont on Friday, after the university issued a firm denial of antisemitism on campus in response to a federal investigation into alleged anti-Jewish discrimination by students and faculty. . The US Department of Education investigation into a series of alleged antisemitic incidents at the university was announced on Tuesday. . On Thursday, the flagship Vermont state university in Burlington, commonly referred to as UVM, denied the allegations as “patently false. . “The uninformed narrative published this week has been harmful to UVM,” university president Suresh Garimella said in a message to the university community. “Equally importantly, it is harmful to our Jewish students, faculty, staff, and alumni. . “There is no doubt that antisemitism exists in the world and, despite our best efforts, in our community,” he said. “Exploitation of fear and divisiveness by advancing false claims that UVM failed to respond to complaints of antisemitic behavior creates confusion and a sense of insecurity for the entire community.” . The university said it believes the investigation will clear it of any wrongdoing. The blistering denial was a more strident response to antisemitism allegations than those issued by other US universities also under investigation. . “While common wisdom dictates remaining patiently silent as we cooperate diligently with an agency’s investigation, I simply cannot do so. These public allegations and our community’s deeply held values call for a strong and immediate response,” Garimella said. . Jewish organizations said the flat-out denial of a problem amounted to blaming Jewish students for raising the issue, and may further alienate Jews and stoke more antisemitism on campus. . Twenty prominent Jewish organizations said they were “alarmed, disappointed and troubled by the response,” which they said “further legitimized” antisemitism. . “Instead of summoning the courage that other university leaders across the country have shown in acknowledging the problem or offering support for Jewish students who are fearful about identifying publicly as Jewish, the UVM President’s statement doubles down and refuses to take responsibility,” said a letter signed by groups including the Anti-Defamation League, Hillel International, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Jewish on Campus, the Jewish Federations of North America and the University of Vermont Chabad chapter. . “The university has denied support to a targeted community, and, in suggesting that Jewish students need to learn how to better protect themselves, has essentially chosen to blame the victims,” the letter said. . The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which helped file the complaint against the university, said its response was “astonishingly inadequate and offensive.” . “Garimella’s statement shows neither reflection, nor understanding, nor remorse,” the Brandeis Center said. . “Garimella demonstrates only the dismissive attitude that has left Jewish students vulnerable to harassment and discrimination, blaming the victims who blew the whistle,” the center said. . The American Jewish Committee said Garimella’s denial “has negatively impacted Jewish students who have experienced antisemitism on campus, making Jewish students and groups feel less included, valued, and protected.” . “We are deeply disappointed that the university chose to speak on behalf of Jewish students, rather than stage a more robust and much-needed conversation with them,” the committee said. . The World Jewish Congress said it was “troubled” by Garimella’s response. . “His statement is far more equivocal than the reactions by other university and college presidents and administrations to manifestations of antisemitism on their campuses,” the group said. . The allegations against UVM said Zionist students had been barred from student clubs, including a sexual assault support group; that a teaching assistant had threatened to lower Zionist students’ grades and reveled in cyberbullying them; and that students threw rocks at a Hillel student dormitory for Jews and vandalized its doors. . Garimella said the university promptly and thoroughly investigated the allegations outlined in the complaint. . After investigating groups that excluded Zionist students from membership, the university determined the groups were not recognized student organizations, received no university support and were not bound by the university’s policies governing student organizations. . The university determined that no grades were lowered by the anti-Zionist teaching assistant, despite her threats, and no student reported they had been discriminated against. . Finally, after learning that rocks had been thrown at a campus Hillel building where Jewish students lived, police determined small rocks were thrown at the building to get the attention of a resident, and there was no evidence it was motivated by antisemitic bias, Garimella said. . The Brandeis Center said the defense was “wholly inadequate.” . A student book club that banned Zionists is actually sponsored by the university, the Brandeis Center said, also claiming that the two groups’ discriminatory conduct is not covered by free speech protections. . The sexual assault support group that banned Zionists was a major student organization that engaged with the administration as if it were a recognized club, making the university responsible for its discrimination, the Brandeis Center argued. . The teaching assistant had been “inciting hostility” toward Jews by saying it was “good and funny” to bully them, and encouraged her followers to do the same, in addition to threatening their grades, the center said. The university did not address her cyberbullying or encouraging antisemitism in its response, or dispute that she was still employed. . The students who threw rocks at the Jewish dormitories asked residents who confronted them if they were Jewish, threw the stones for at least 30 minutes and vandalized the doors to the building, according to the complaint, which does not jibe with the university’s explanation of the incident. . The complaint against the university alleged it allowed a hostile antisemitic environment on campus in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. . The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in programs that receive federal funding. Antisemitic discrimination was included as a Title VI violation in 2019 with an executive order from former US president Donald Trump, opening a new legal battlefield for Jewish advocates alleging antisemitism on campuses. . The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights only pursues investigations into complaints it deems worthy of a thorough investigation. . Before the federal investigation, Jewish students at the flagship Vermont state college reported widespread discrimination. A report by Jewish on Campus released earlier this year found that the University of Vermont had more reported antisemitic incidents than any other campus in 2021.
Brandeis Brief: August 2022 Most students are on Summer Break – but the Brandeis Center is going full steam ahead! We announced the U.S. government’s fourth open investigation based on a Brandeis Center complaint of campus anti-Semitism: this time, at the University of Southern California. Also in July: . The Brandeis Center published its newest fact sheet: Int’l Humanitarian Law in Asymmetric Warfare. The guide explains fundamental concepts of international law that apply to armed conflicts and demonstrates that Hamas regularly violates these principles. Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin delivered a compelling testimony before the New York City Council and participated in a NYCC press conference about campus anti-Semitism. President Lewin explained that Unilever, once Avi Zinger’s opponent, is now defending its agreement with Zinger against a legal challenge brought by the independent Ben & Jerry’s board in Vermont. Vice Chair L. Rachel Lerman, now the Brandeis Center’s general counsel, participated in drafting a Jewish American community organization joint letter urging Morningstar to eliminate anti-Israel bias from its ESG (Environmental, Social and governance) rating system. Lewin discussed the historic Ben & Jerry’s agreement at the Israel on Campus Coalition Professional Field Retreat, on i24 News, and on ‘Talkline with Zev Brenner.’ Lewin and Lerman jointly explained the Brandeis Center’s milestone settlement during a recent webinar hosted by multiple Jewish organizations. ❤️ We extend a heartfelt thank you and wish the best of luck to our summer team of law clerks and interns, some of whom wrap up their service this week. Intern Rosemarie Goldstein published a blog this week about Lerman’s new appointment and intern Danya Belkin published a summary of the Brandeis Center’s newest fact sheet. . Read about these and other developments at the Center in this month’s Brief. As always, we thank you for your tax-deductible donations and acknowledge that without you our work could not be done. . U.S. Investigation into Anti-Semitism at USC Makes 4th Concurrent, Open Investigation Based on Brandeis Center Complaint The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened an investigation into a Brandeis Center-filed complaint alleging anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination at the University of Southern California (USC). The complaint was submitted by the Brandeis Center on behalf of Rose Ritch, former USC Undergraduate Student Government vice president. The complaint details how Ritch was “the victim of a concerted campaign of anti-Semitic harassment that targeted her on the basis of her shared ancestral and ethnic characteristics and sought to exclude her from the Undergraduate Student Government on account of her Jewish identity.” OCR evaluates all complaints it receives but pursues investigations only into those it determines warrant a more thorough investigation. . OCR is also currently investigating complaints filed by the Brandeis Center against the University of Illinois and Brooklyn College. And the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating a Brandeis Center employment discrimination complaint of anti-Semitism in the DEI program at Stanford University. . New Brandeis Center Fact Sheet on International Humanitarian Law in Asymmetric Warfare Led by international human rights lawyer, Senior Counsel Arthur Traldi, the Brandeis Center published its seventh fact sheet this month: International Humanitarian Law in Asymmetric Warfare. . The guide explains the international law principles of “distinction,” “necessity,” “proportionality,” and “humanity,” and it demonstrates that Hamas regularly violates these principles of international law. In contrast, using publicly available information, the guide shows that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) works assiduously to comply with these same principles. . NYC Council Hears Alyza D. Lewin Testimony on Campus Anti-Semitism At the invitation of New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin spoke at a press conference about campus anti-Semitism in CUNY schools and across the country. During the NYCC Committee on Higher Education hearing, Lewin delivered powerful testimony and answered questions about the impact of BDS campaigns on Jewish students during a Q&A. . According to Lewin, “The reason anti-Semitism is increasing and not decreasing on campus is because university administrators are mis-diagnosing the problem. They are treating this as a speech issue rather than recognizing the marginalization, harassment, and discrimination that is taking place.” . CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez did not attend the rescheduled hearing, despite it being rescheduled to accommodate him. WATCH Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin‘s powerful testimony before the New York City Council’s Committee on Higher Education. . In Role Reversal, Unilever Defends Deal with Brandeis Center Client Avi Zinger and Opposes Subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s Lawsuit Designed to Stop Sale of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream in Israel Following an historic legal settlement – which granted Avi Zinger the right to sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream throughout Israel, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank / Judea and Samaria – Ben & Jerry’s independent board in Vermont doubled down and sued parent company Unilever for preventing its unlawful anti-Israel boycott. Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin’s statement about the new lawsuit was reported in dozens of news sources around the world, from the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Reuters to Arab News, Irish Times and USA Today: “It’s a done deal. Unilever chose the morally correct, socially just and principled path when it ensured that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream would always continue to be produced and sold in Israel and the West Bank. Avi Zinger stands arm in arm with Unilever and commends Unilever’s decision to forcefully defend its agreement with him.” L. Rachel Lerman – Brandeis Center Vice Chair, Senior Counsel and now General Counsel – Joins Morningstar Letter and Prestigious Bar Committee Brandeis Center Vice Chair and Senior Counsel L. Rachel Lerman acceptedt he additional role of general counsel earlier this month. “I look forward to this opportunity to take my work with the Brandeis Center a step further and help the organization sustain its impact and growth,” said Lerman. “I am honored to have been selected for this role.” . “With the continued growth of our civil rights organization, we will rely on Rachel’s expertise to inform case work and represent the Brandeis Center in litigation,” declared Brandeis Center Founder and Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus. “It is exciting to reach this moment in our organization’s history, where our growth and sophistication requires a dedicated General Counsel,” said Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin. “As a Chambers ranked appellate lawyer, long-time member of the Brandeis Center’s Board of Directors, and Senior Counsel at the Brandeis Center this past year, there is no one better suited to advise us in this capacity.” . Lerman was recently appointed to the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee. She will take part in the committee’s evaluations of nominees to the California Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal. . Earlier this summer, she authored a Jerusalem Post op-ed explaining how an independent investigator recommended financial services giant Morningstar address anti-Israel bias in the software it uses to rate companies’ positions on social justice issues – known industry-wide as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Lerman urged Morningstar to modify the ESG rating methodology used by its subsidiary Sustainalytics to ensure it is objective and reliable, and not a conduit for BDS activism. . Lerman followed that up by participating in drafting a letter organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and co-signed by a number of Jewish American groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Conference of Presidents, urging Morningstar to take further steps to eliminate anti-Israel bias. Alyza D. Lewin Hits the Airwaves, Discussing Historic Ben & Jerry’s Agreement In numerous interviews, Alyza D. Lewin describes the Brandeis Center’s representation of Avi Zinger, the manufacturer and distributor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and explains the lead role the Brandeis Center had in preventing Ben & Jerry’s unlawful anti-Israel boycott. Her strong statement about Unilever’s defense of its agreement with Zinger in response to the lawsuit filed by Ben & Jerry’s independent board – was picked up by media outlets around the globe. . In an interview on Israel’s i24 cable news channel, Lewin highlighted Avi Zinger’s remarkable coexistence programs over the years. C’est amusant – she even appeared on the network’s French channel, where her expertise was translated for Israel’s sizable French community. Lewin was also invited to appear on broadcast program ‘Talkline with Zev Brenner’ to discuss the historic agreement. . President Lewin and Vice Chair Lerman also explained the theory of the Brandeis Center’s lawsuit and how it led to the milestone settlement during a webinar hosted by the JCRC of Greater Washington, AJC, and the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists. . Finally, Lewin provided details and context when she discussed the Ben & Jerry’s case during the recent Israel on Campus Field Professional Retreat. At that same conference, during a panel called Standing up to Hate: Civil Rights and the Law, Lewin provided a must-watch deep dive explaining what college students and college administrators must understand about Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to stem the tide of anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination on America’s campuses. WATCH President Alyza D. Lewin Explain the Brandeis Center’s Ben & Jerry’s Agreement Victory Against BDS B’hatzlacha – summer law clerks + interns ! We extend a heartfelt thank you and good luck to our summer team of law clerks and interns, some of whom wrap up their service this week. Intern Rosemarie Goldstein published a blog this week about Vice Chair Lerman’s new appointment and intern Danya Belkin published a summary of the Brandeis Center’s newest fact sheet. Donate to the Brandeis Center Sign up for our monthly Brandeis Brief and other messages from us Forward this email to a friend The Louis D. Brandeis Center 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1025, Washington, DC 20006 You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. The Louis D. Brandeis Center is a nonprofit organization supported by individuals, groups and foundations that share our concern about Jewish college students. Contributions are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. To support our efforts to combat campus anti-Semitism, please contact us at info@brandeiscenter.com
Brandeis Brief: September 2022 August was another results-packed month for the Brandeis Center. Our complaint against SUNY New Paltz was prominently covered by education, Jewish and mainstream media. CNN interviewed Brandeis Center President Alyza Lewin and our client, a SUNY New Paltz student, for its primetime special, “Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America.” Also in August: LDB urged the SEC to eliminate systemic anti-Israel bias from ESG ratings. . Read about these and other developments at the Center in this month’s Brief. As always, we thank you for your tax-deductible donations and acknowledge that without you our work could not be done. . Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin Discusses Jewish Identity and the Center’s Title VI complaint against SUNY New Paltz in CNN’s Anti-Semitism Special “People today…don’t realize that Judaism is not just a religion….Judaism also has this sense of Jewish peoplehood,” explained Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin to Dana Bash on CNN’s ‘Rising Hate: Antisemitism in America’ special. “We’re this ethno-religion…. Jews share a common history, a common ancestry – and that history and that ancestry is completely rooted in the land of Israel.” . CNN also interviewed SUNY New Paltz student and Brandeis Center client Cassandra Blotner. Just days before the broadcast, the Brandeis Center announced that it had filed a federal complaint with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of Blotner, another student named Ofek Preis and Jewish on Campus. . Both students were excluded from a sexual assault awareness group and then cyberbullied, harassed and threatened, over their Jewish and Israeli identities. “SUNY [New Paltz]…is permitting a hostile environment that marginalizes and excludes these Jewish…and Israeli sexual assault survivor students…[and] is also denying Jewish and Israeli survivors of sexual assault on campus equal access to the educational opportunities and services they need, on the basis of their shared ancestry, ethnicity and national origin in violation of Title VI,” wrote the Brandeis Center in the complaint. . “These women were shunned and isolated by the very people to whom they had turned to for support as sexual assault survivors, and they were excluded merely because they expressed pride in the Jewish people’s ethnic and ancestral connection to Israel,” stated Brandeis Center Director of Legal Initiatives Denise Katz-Prober. . Watch Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin in CNN’s ‘Antisemitism in America’ special. Brandeis Center Urges SEC to Act on Anti-Israel Bias in ESG Financial Ratings The Brandeis Center, Jewish Federations of North America and the American Jewish Committee each urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to take action on anti-Israel bias in financial ratings. . Financial ratings firms that provide specialized ratings based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have been found to incorporate biased methodologies and sources that systematically produce worse ratings for Israeli companies and companies doing business related to Israel, potentially without full knowledge of the investors who rely on those ratings. . Brandeis Center Vice Chair and General Counsel L. Rachel Lerman has written extensively about anti-Israel bias documented in an ESG ratings product owned by Financial Services firm Morningstar. . “The new rulemaking will require transparency across the board, and we are asking the SEC specifically to require ESG-related funds that focus on the social aspect of ESG to tell investors how they derive ratings for such companies, how they check for and eliminate anti-Israel bias in their sources, and whether they include anti-Semitism on their human rights radar,” declared Lerman, regarding the Brandeis Center’s joint effort to urge the SEC to remove this bias from all ESG systems, not only Morningstar’s. . Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus Criticizes BDS at Berkeley Law Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus criticized a pro-BDS bylaw adopted by a handful of student groups at Berkeley Law – in an article by J Weekly. . The bylaw, written by Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine, calls upon other student groups not to invite “speakers that have expressed and continued to hold views … in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.” .. The students in this case, “are taking a step down a very ugly road,” stated Marcus. “Berkeley Law wouldn’t be Berkeley Law if students didn’t engage in a certain amount of wrongheaded political nonsense. This is different, because it’s not just a political stunt. It is tinged with anti-Semitism and anti-Israel national origin discrimination.” Brandeis Center Director of Legal Initiatives Denise Katz-Prober Discusses OCR’s Decision to Open Investigation of Brandeis Center Complaint Against USC Last month’s USC announcement – the fourth, concurrent U.S. investigation into campus anti-Semitism based on a Brandeis Center-filed complaint – dominated academic, Jewish and mainstream news. The USC complaint details anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination against Brandeis Center client Rose Ritch, who was effectively pushed out of her position as student government vice-president in 2020 due to her Jewish Zionist identity. . News sources continue reaching out to Brandeis Center Director of Legal Initiatives Denise Katz-Prober for insights and context about the case. . “We hope that universities will take note of this case, and we think that they are starting to get the message,” stated Brandeis Center Director of Legal Initiatives, Denise Katz-Prober to JewishPress.com. . “USC’s failure to acknowledge or respond to the form of discrimination that Rose Ritch experienced is, unfortunately, not uncommon,” Katz-Prober told Campus Reform. “When Jewish students, like Rose Ritch, are targeted for marginalization and exclusion from campus activities merely because they express pride in or support for the existence of a Jewish state in the Jewish people’s ancient homeland, that is a form of unlawful discrimination, not a political debate.” . Charlotte TV Station Interviews Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus About Supreme Court Affirmative Action Case LDB Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus shared his insights about the historical context and significance of a Supreme Court case involving discriminatory admissions policies at Harvard and University of North Carolina. . “Universities first adopted the diversity framework, not because they wanted to have more Black or Hispanic students, but because they wanted to have fewer Jewish students,” Marcus explained. “Much of the way that universities continue to look at diversity is based on some of these building blocks that are actually very dubious in their historical background. Even if the current admissions officers have different ideas in mind, it probably shouldn’t be shocking that some of these diversity elements that were initially developed for exclusionary reasons are not quite as perfect as the higher education administrators would like us to believe.” . Earlier this year, the Brandeis Center and the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation (SVCAF) filed a joint amicus brief in support of Students for Fair Admissions’(SFFA) petition for certiorari, in which the parties argued that Harvard’s admissions plan was developed with the intent of limiting enrollment of Jewish undergraduate students and that it has had the continuing effect of excluding Asian Americans today. . Watch Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus discuss Supreme Court affirmative action case on Charlotte TV station . Marcus Published in Latest Issue of Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism The Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism published a book review by Chairman Marcus in its spring edition. . Marcus’s article is a book review of ‘Key Concepts in the Study of Antisemitism’ – a collection of 21 essays that serves as a handbook to educate college instructors on the nature of anti-Semitism. . Marcus’s review highlights the increasing divide in anti-Semitism studies. The book’s editors argue that anti-Semitism must be studied within the broader context of different manifestations of evil. Marcus argues anti-Semitism is a unique phenomenon, rather than a manifestation of other evils. . Former Brandeis Center intern Hilary Miller co-published an article in the same edition with David Hirsh, titled ‘Durban Antizionism: Its Sources, Its Impact, and Its Relation to Older Anti-Jewish Ideologies.’ Editor-in-chief and law school professor Lesley Klaff serves on the Brandeis Center’s academic advisory board. . Recent Podcasts with President Lewin Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin was interviewed by Jason Greenblatt for his ‘The Diplomat’ podcast at Newsweek and by Hen Mazzig for his ‘Fresh Look’ podcast at the Israel on Campus Coalition. . . Lewin discussed two historic cases she worked on, the Jerusalem passport case and the Brandeis Center’s lawsuit that defeated Ben & Jerry’s anti-Israel boycott. She also discussed Jewish identity and how the Brandeis Center uses civil rights laws to protect American Jews from discrimination. . . At the ICC National Leadership Summit in August, Lewin explained why it is vital for Jewish college students to understand the protections afforded to them under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. . Students Create New Brandeis Center student chapter at NYU School of Law Coming on the heels of several anti-Semitic incidents at NYU, students at NYU School of Law have started the latest Brandeis Center student chapter, Law Students Against Anti-Semitism – NYU Law Chapter of the Brandeis Center. The chapter will provide opportunities for students to educate and engage with the university community about civil rights protections for Jewish and Israeli students and using the law to fight anti-Semitism. Don’t Miss Chairman Marcus’s and President Lewin’s Next Public Events Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus will moderate a panel discussion on Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the inaugural Education Law & Policy Conference, hosted by Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies and The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will serve as the event’s keynote speakers. . The Education Law & Policy Conference will examine the federal legal and policy issues surrounding American education. The conference will take place on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. and will feature a welcome session, plenary panels, breakout sessions, lunch, and a closing speech followed by a reception. Registration is open to the public. Attendees for the in-person event have the option of obtaining CLE credit with their ticket purchase. . Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin is the featured speaker for Hadassah New York’s webinar ‘Is anti-Zionism anti-Semitism? on September 15. . Gone But Not Forgotten — Fresh Blog Posts from the Brandeis Center’s Summer Interns The Brandeis Center’s summer interns may have finished their term, but their hard work continues to inform our supporters. . Josh Feinstein (UMD, May ‘23) penned a blog about President Lewin’s testimony for the New York City Council Committee on Higher Education about campus anti-Semitism. SUNY New Paltz student and Brandeis Center client Ofek Preis, and former NYU student Adela Cojab also provided powerful testimony at the hearing about their experiences with anti-Semitism on campus. And Rosemarie Goldstein (Wellesley College, May ‘24) detailed Chairman Marcus’s latest contribution to the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism. Donate to the Brandeis Center Sign up for our monthly Brandeis Brief and other messages from us Forward this email to a friend The Louis D. Brandeis Center 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1025, Washington, DC 20006You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. The Louis D. Brandeis Center is a nonprofit organization supported by individuals, groups and foundations that share our concern about Jewish college students. Contributions are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. To support our efforts to combat campus anti-Semitism, please contact us at info@brandeiscenter.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 16, 2022 . We, the undersigned Jewish organizations, are alarmed, disappointed and troubled by the response issued yesterday by the President of the University of Vermont to the Title VI complaint filed on behalf of a number of UVM students by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus. . Simply put, President Garimella fails to condemn the existence of significant antisemitism on UVM’s campus. And instead of summoning the courage that other university leaders across the country have shown in acknowledging the problem or offering support for Jewish students who are fearful about identifying publicly as Jewish, the UVM President’s statement doubles down and refuses to take responsibility. The statement only offers inadequate excuses while failing to denounce those who have created a climate of intolerance for Jews, especially those who choose to openly express their Jewish identity through their deeply felt ancestral and ethnic connection to Israel. All the more concerning is the inference that aggrieved Jewish students should not have sought recourse through a regular legal process that exists for the very purpose of investigating civil rights complaints, including those pertaining to antisemitism. As a consequence, the concerns of antisemitism are further delegitimized. . The university has denied support to a targeted community, and, in suggesting that Jewish students need to learn how to better protect themselves, has essentially chosen to blame the victims. The students who filed the complaint raised awareness of a form of antisemitism that students at UVM have been experiencing for years, and gave a voice to students who felt unheard. Even now, the UVM President apparently has not really heard their voices of concern and anguish. . We support these Jewish students at UVM and elsewhere who have the right to openly express their identification with Israel without being shunned, marginalized and excluded from campus opportunities. Every student at UVM is entitled to a college experience free from antisemitism and all other forms of discrimination. It is time for UVM to frankly acknowledge the serious concerns that have been raised and take concrete steps to address them. . ADL AJC Alums for Campus Fairness CAMERA on Campus Chabad on Campus at the University of Vermont Club Z Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Hasbara Fellowships Hillel International ICC Israel Peace Initiative JewBelong Jewish Federations of North America Jewish National Fund – USA Jewish on Campus The Louis D Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law Simon Wiesenthal Center StandWithUs & StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department SSI ZOA
Contact: Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724 . FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . Yesterday, after news broke that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating anti-Semitism at the University of Vermont, President Suresh V. Garimella sent his university community an astonishingly inadequate and offensive response to the Title VI anti-Semitism complaint that the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus had filed. President Garimella’s statement shows neither reflection, nor understanding, nor remorse. Instead, Garimella demonstrates only the dismissive attitude that has left Jewish students vulnerable to harassment and discrimination, blaming the victims who blew the whistle on UVM anti-Semitism rather than pledging to respond to the problems that federal investigators will now examine. . Rather than recognize that Jewish students on his campus have been repeatedly targeted, bullied, maligned, and excluded from opportunities at UVM solely on the basis of their Jewish ancestral and ethnic identity, President Garimella chose instead to double-down on his denial of anti-Semitism on his campus. Instead of expressing support for the Vermont students who are afraid to identify publicly as Jewish, President Garimella blamed those very victims – the ones who brought the anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to light – for the hostile atmosphere on his campus. . President Garimella’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge and condemn the anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination experienced by members of the Jewish community at UVM has enabled a climate on campus that tolerates the vilification of Jewish students, particularly those who express pride in their shared ancestral and ethnic connection to Israel. For those members of the University of Vermont community, UVM is not inclusive. Contrary to President Garimella’s assertion, UVM has failed to “denounce” or “respond briskly and decisively” when “hateful actions” target these members of the Jewish community. President Garimella’s email to the UVM community proves only his institution’s recalcitrance. . Allegation 1. President Garimella’s statement describes UVM’s bungled response to anti-Semitic conduct by a UVM teaching assistant. This instructor, or “TA,” had publicly taunted Jewish students by asking, on social media, whether she should lower the grades of Zionist students. In a wholly inadequate response, the UVM administration apparently investigated only whether the grades had actually been lowered, rather than considering whether the instructor’s taunting had created a campus-wide hostile environment, chilled the expression of Jewish speech, or encouraged UVM students to shun their Jewish classmates. The instructor had repeatedly encouraged her followers on social media to target, harass, bully, marginalize and publicly condemn Zionist students. Zionism, the belief that Jews have a right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, is for many Jewish students at UVM an expression of pride in their ancestral and ethnic Jewish identity. Inciting hostility toward Jews on the basis of their Jewish identity is reprehensible conduct. However, President Garimella chose to remain silent, even though the university has issued statements in support of other groups that have been targeted – including not only other ethnic groups but even members of the men’s basketball team. . President Garimella’s silence has created an atmosphere at UVM where Jewish students not only feel alienated, but are afraid to disclose their identity as Jews. When a TA says she feels it’s “good and funny” to lower a student’s grade for going on trips to Israel, that discourages Jewish students from traveling to the Jewish homeland. When an instructor treats “both sides discourse” (acknowledging the complexity of the situation in the Middle East) as “unthinkable,” it ensures that only one side of an issue will be discussed. When she threatens to penalize students with family in Israel, that intimidates Jewish and Israelis students from disclosing their heritage. When that instructor encourages students on campus to follow her example and the university fails to step in, students understand the message they are given. They follow suit and begin excluding Jewish students from their clubs. Nevertheless, based on UVM’s non-investigation, Garimella whitewashed the TA’s anti-Jewish activity on the grounds that it “did not adversely impact students in the classroom” – and, therefore, no further action by the university was warranted. . Allegation 2: President Garimella claims that UVM students who threw rocks at the Hillel building merely wanted to get the attention of a friend who was recovering from an illness. Garimella doesn’t explain why the perpetrators, who were asked to stop pelting the building, replied, “Are you Jewish?” And he fails to address why the students vandalized the doors to the Hillel building. . Allegation 3: President Garimella’s response to the student organizations that exclude Zionists is deficient in multiple respects. First, President Garimella fails to appreciate that excluding students from an organization based on identity is discriminatory conduct, not speech. . Second, he mistakenly claims that the groups are not recognized by the university. However, the UVM Revolutionary Socialist Union (RSU) Book Club is still included among sponsored “UVM Book Clubs” accessible on the uvm.edu website (see https://bookclub.w3.uvm.edu/). And the UVM RSU Book Club still proudly boasts in its Constitution & Bylaws (easily accessible online) that members must pledge “NO” to Zionism. It appears that as an official UVM Book Club, the UVM Revolutionary Socialist Union Book Club remains eligible to receive student government funding and utilize university facilities. . Third, UVM Empowering Survivors describes itself as a “collective of University of Vermont students.” The student organization established the Instagram account “ShareYourStoryUVM” which it has used to mobilize student support for its activism. In May 2021 (the time of the incident described in our complaint), the Instagram account had over 4,000 followers, a figure that represented more than 1/3 of UVM’s total student enrollment. (Today the number of followers has increased to close to 7,000.) University administrators, recognizing that the organization represents a key campus constituency, have engaged with its student leaders, treated the group as representative of members of the student body, and on information and belief have provided access to facilities in a manner comparable to that provided to recognized student organizations. It is, therefore, disingenuous for President Garimella to claim that he has no responsibility to address the discriminatory conduct of a group that his administration has engaged with and treated like any other recognized student organization. . Finally, President Garimella has to date stubbornly refused to use the University’s voice to publicly condemn UVM Empowering Survivor’s discriminatory behavior. It was abundantly clear to the UVM administration that this organization, which successfully mobilized thousands of student demonstrators, had an outsized impact on campus. For students, UVM Empowering Survivors represented the university’s most significant student support organization for survivors of sexual assault. Being publicly ostracized from this group, and the broad community that it represented, was traumatic for members of the Jewish community. However, rather than recognizing the pain – particularly the pain experienced by the Jewish sexual assault survivor community – and issuing a statement explaining that it is discriminatory for a student organization to exclude individuals from membership based on identity – President Garimella has continued, to this day, to remain silent. He has never publicly acknowledged the Jewish survivors’ pain or condemned the discriminatory conduct. . It is ironic that President Garimella and other UVM administrators have attended programs intended to educate about anti-Semitism. Attending such programs is meaningless unless university leaders learn from their experience. Sadly, President Garimella does not appear to have done even that. The Louis D. Brandeis Center is an independent, nonprofit organization established to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. The Brandeis Center conducts research, education, and advocacy to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism on college and university campuses. It is not affiliated with the Massachusetts university, the Kentucky law school, or any of the other institutions that share the name and honor the memory of the late U.S. Supreme Court justice. Jewish on Campus is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded and run by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students. Since its founding in 2020, JOC has collected stories of anti-Semitism from thousands of students around the world and has assisted in creating change on campus.