Filed with the Department of Education by Jewish groups, the complaints allege that Scripps, Cal Poly, and the Etiwanda school district were aware of antisemitism at their institutions and did not take the needed steps to stop it Published by Haaretz on 3/6/2025 A number of Jewish organizations filed federal complaints on Thursday alleging antisemitism in two California schools – Scripps College and California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt – and in the Etiwanda School District near Los Angeles. Spearheading the initiative was the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law – a non-profit dedicated to safeguarding Jewish civil rights. The complaints urged the U.S. Department of Education to investigate whether the two schools and the school district are in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for enabling discrimination and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students. “While an increasing number of schools recognize that their Jewish students are being targeted both for their religious beliefs and due to their ancestral connection to Israel, and are taking necessary steps to address both classic and contemporary forms of antisemitism, some shamefully continue to turn a blind eye,” said Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus, a civil rights expert who ran the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education under President George W. Bush and under Donald Trump in his previous stint in office. “The law and federal government recognize Jews share a common faith and they are a people with a shared history and heritage rooted in the land of Israel. Schools that continue to ignore either aspect of Jewish identity are becoming dangerous breeding grounds for escalating anti-Jewish bigotry, and they must be held accountable.” The virtuous antisemitism of campus protests against Israel Columbia task force reveals full extent of antisemitism on campus since Oct. 7 New report: over 2,000 anti-Israel U.S. campus incidents last year, Columbia tops list Among the incidents cited in the complaint against Scripps, filed in conjunction with the Arnold & Porter law firm, a student wearing a Star of David around her neck was told that her “Jewish necklace” made others uncomfortable and was urged to “take it off,” and a student-run coffeehouse on campus refused to hire a “Zionist.” Despite President Trump’s recent executive order aimed at cracking down on campus antisemitism, the complaint says, “Scripps had failed to treat antisemitism with the seriousness and attention it requires. Instead, the college has repeatedly abandoned Jewish and Israeli students targeted by antisemitic hostility.” Among the incidents cited in the complaint against Cal Poly, filed in conjunction with Jewish on Campus and one unidentified student, anti-Israel campus protesters threw fake blood on Jewish students, harassed Jewish students inside a Sukkah, and displayed hateful messages showing a Nazi swastika “equals” the Jewish Star of David. “Despite its knowledge about these and other antisemitic incidents, the university has not taken meaningful steps to eliminate the hostile climate for Jewish students at Cal Poly Humboldt,” the complaint says. “Worse, instead of directly addressing antisemitism on campus, as they are required to do pursuant to their legal obligations, the administration has encouraged Jewish students to hide their Jewish identity to avoid being targeted.” The complaint against the Etiwanda School District was filed on behalf of an unidentified 12-year-old girl, who was beaten with a stick at an after-school program run by the district and told to “shut [her] stupid Jewish ass up.” Also signed on the complaint are the Anti-Defamation League and StandWithUs. “Etiwanda had notice of this hostile environment and failed to take reasonable responsive action to eliminate the hostile environment and prevent its recurrence,” the complaint says. The Brandeis Center, ADL, StandWithUs, and the American Jewish Committee filed a lawsuit against the Santa Ana Unified School District in California last year for introducing ethnic studies courses it said were “developed in secret and infected with antisemitism.” As part of a settlement announced in late February, the school district said it was reviewing and revising its ethnic studies program.