Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Last week, the Brandeis Center’s Director of Legal Initiatives Aviva Vogelstein sent a letter to Florida State University (FSU) President John Thrasher, urging his administration to address numerous hateful social media postings by FSU students, targeting those who are Jewish, Israeli, or simply pro-Israel. These students, who were affiliated with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at FSU, posted blatantly anti-Semitic messages on Twitter and Facebook. Many of these postings referenced old tropes and stereotypes of Jews, while others had more violent messages. Some of these messages included: “Facebook and Yahood [Arabic word for ‘Jew’] – the cause of the worlds problems”; “I hate paying for people and not getting anything in return Jew a** n*ggas”; “Wanna confuse a Jew? Put em in a round room and tell ‘em to find the penny in the corner” Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs against anyone on the basis of their race, color, or national origin. In 2004, the Marcus Policy extended Title VI protection to Jewish students based on shared ethnic or ancestral characteristics. If Jewish students, or other students such as Muslim or Sikh students, are targeted or discriminated against on campus on the basis of their ethnic or ancestral background, any university receiving federal funding – such as FSU – has a duty to prevent the creation of a hostile environment. Additionally, the anti-Semitic postings violate The Seminole Creed’s requirement that FSU students “…show respect for others,” and “…learn from and about those who are different and work to make the University more inclusive.” The postings also violate FSU’s Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Statement which states that “All members of our community will help create a[n]…educational environment that promotes…respect…free from discrimination [and] harassment.” In its June 8 letter, the Brandeis Center urged FSU President Thrasher to publicly condemn the hateful messages, investigate thoroughly and take responsive actions consistent with FSU policies and applicable constitutional protections, reach out to the targeted students and communities to provide support and resources as needed, and create more programming on the nature and different manifestations of anti-Semitism, and provide extracurricular programming to raise community awareness about global and campus anti-Semitism. The text of the letter can be found below: _________ Dear President Thrasher: We write on behalf of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (LDB), a national public interest advocacy organization established to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. We work to combat campus anti-Semitism, and often work with university administrators nationwide to offer best practices on how to combat and prevent anti- Semitism on their campuses, and write to express concern about the recently reported anti-Semitic social media postings by current and former Florida State University students. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education reminded us that federal law “protects all students, including Jewish students, from discrimination based on race, color, and national origin (including language and actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics),” and that “schools must take immediate and appropriate action to respond to complaints of discrimination, including harassment . . . .” (See Combating Discrimination Against Jewish Students, https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/jewish-factsheet-201701.pdf). Today, we urge you to promptly and properly address this challenge at FSU. We strongly urge you to publicly condemn the statements as anti-Semitic and take further actions to correct the campus climate for Jewish, Israeli and pro-Israel students. Dozens of social media postings, which we have independently verified, include a mixture of inciting violence against Jews and Israelis and displaying anti-Semitic and racist sentiment. The social media postings include: “I hate paying for people and not getting anything in return Jew a** n*ggas”; “Y do Jews have big noses…Cuz air is free…”; “Burn Israel to the ground”; A photo of two people wearing Keffiyehs seemingly assembling a Molotov cocktail, captioned, “Actual goals”; “Wanna confuse a Jew? Put em in a round room and tell ‘em to find the penny in the corner”; “Facebook and Yahood [Arabic word for ‘Jew’] – the cause of the worlds problems”; Referring to a post they tweeted in 2016 at the National Students for Justice in Palestine Conference about “f*cking up a Zionist,” a student stated, “I’d f*ck up a Zionist in ’16 & we’re still doing it in 2018”; and Writing that the FSU Student Body President should “…delete his existence” for expressing support for Israel. We do not dispute the right of students to express themselves, even outrageously or hurtfully. However, we are concerned that the anti-Semitic and discriminatory tropes expressed in these statements and similar statements could create an environment that Israeli students, Jewish students, and other students, will reasonably perceive to be hostile. We urge your administration to exercise its obligation to address the harms that arise when speakers misuse that right in ways that poison the environment and sends a message of exclusion and hate. Such messages are incompatible with The Seminole Creed’s requirement that FSU community members “…show respect for others,” and “…learn from and about those who are different and work to make the University more inclusive,” and federal civil rights law. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs that receive federal funds. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced that Title VI applies to discrimination on the basis of Jewish ethnicity or ancestry in guidance issued in 2004 (see Kenneth L. Marcus, Dear Colleague Letter (Sep. 13, 2004), https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/religious-rights2004.html). In 2010, OCR clarified that unlawful harassment need not include intent to harm, be directed at a specific target, or involve repeated incidents (see Russlynn Ali, Dear Colleague Letter (Oct. 26, 2010), https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html). Speech that invokes anti-Semitic stereotypes against Israelis and Jews, such as the social media messages at issue, can create a hostile environment for Israeli and Jewish students on campus in violation of Title VI. Further, FSU’s Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Statement holds that, “All members of our community will help create a[n]…educational environment that promotes…respect…free from discrimination [and] harassment.” (See Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination Statement, http://www.hr.fsu.edu/PDF/Publications/diversity/EEO_Statement.pdf). Pursuant to that statement, FSU’s “Discrimination Response System” has defined bias as “an act or behavior motivated by the offender(s) pre-formed negative opinion or attitude toward facets of another person(s)’ identity. An incident of bias may occur whether the act is intentional or unintentional. An act of bias may be directed toward an individual or group. Bias may contribute to creating an unsafe, hostile and/or an unwelcoming environment for another person(s). For Florida State University, an incident of bias is an act that violates any of the tenets of The Seminole Creed.” (See Discrimination Response System, https://thecenter.fsu.edu/resources/discrimination-response-system). We hope that you will seize this as a teachable moment to educate your students about the evils of anti-Semitism and racism and the need to take a firm stand against them, and we recommend the following corrective and preventative actions: Address the harm done to the community by issuing a strong university statement condemning the social media postings and anti-Semitism firmly, promptly, and with specificity, along the lines discussed in “LDB’s Best Practice Guide for Combating Anti- Semitism and Anti-Israelism” (see attached). Investigate the situation thoroughly and take responsive actions consistent with FSU policies and applicable constitutional protections. Reach out to targeted student communities, local community leaders, and experts, including Hillel at FSU, Chabad of Tallahassee & FSU, Noles for Israel, NolePAC, FSU- IAC Mishelanu to offer support and resources as needed. Create more academic, curricular, and other programming on the nature and different manifestations of anti-Semitism (see attached LDB Fact Sheet on the Elements of Anti- Semitism), and provide extracurricular programming to raise community awareness about global and campus anti-Semitism. In accordance with the directive of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, we ask you to exercise your “ethical moral obligation to act as leaders, and promote the values of respect, tolerance, and inclusiveness on campus,” and to educate your students and faculty “that with freedom of speech comes responsibility.” We urge you to take these actions to remedy the current situation, and lower the likelihood that bigotry or anti-Semitism will recur on your campus. We are available to share our expertise on these issues, and further discuss our recommendations with you, and can be reached at the e-mail addresses listed below, or by phone at (202) 559-9296. Thank you in advance for your serious consideration of this matter. Sincerely, Aviva Vogelstein Director of Legal Initiatives The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law