Brandeis Brief: March 2022 The calendar’s shortest month is jam-packed with news from the Brandeis Center: The U.S. Dept. of Education opened an investigation into Brooklyn College based on an important anti-Semitism complaint we filed, highlighting the new harassment Jewish students face – being vilified as “privileged white oppressors.” The Brandeis Center provided strategic and legal guidance to Duke Univ.’s Students Supporting Israel chapter – helping lead to its unanimous reinstatement by Duke’s student government. News sources interviewed the Brandeis Center for legal insights into anti-Zionist activity on the campus of SUNY New Paltz and a bipartisan congressional letter calling for the Education Dept.’s long-awaited campus guidance to thwart anti-Semitism. We pressed the Dept. of Education to increase K-12 public school tracking of religious harassment to the same level it tracks for students’ race, national origin, sex, color and disability. In an op-ed for the New York Daily News, Brandeis Center founder and chairman Kenneth L. Marcus explained how Whoopi Goldberg’s Holocaust remarks threw the issues at Brooklyn College into stark relief. Campus Reform interviewed the Brandeis Center about our work exposing anti-Semitism in Stanford’s D.E.I. program – and The Society for Human Resource Management included our insights about anti-Semitic bias in the workplace in an article read by thousands of HR professionals. A Brandeis Center alum’s op-ed called for the creation of a domestic anti-Semitism Czar position. And our spring semester intern covered a webinar focused on Amnesty International’s most recent biased and one-sided report. 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. The Brandeis Center’s founder and chairman – and former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Civil Rights – discussed the organization’s complaint filed with the EEOC, alleging anti-Semitic discrimination from Stanford Univ.’s D.E.I. program. Brooklyn College to Jewish Students: ‘Get Your Whiteness in Check’ U.S. Opens Investigation Over Anti-Semitic Harassment The Dept. of Education’s Office for Civil Rights accepted the Brandeis Center’s complaint on behalf of Jewish students at Brooklyn College. The students allege professors accused them of inflicting racial oppression and their peers openly discussed violence against them. Jews who spoke up about anti-Jewish hostility or an imposed status of “white, privileged oppressor” were told to “get your whiteness in check,” by faculty and staff. “We can’t allow [schools] to pit one group against the other and suggest that calling out discrimination against some means tolerating it against others. That’s…impermissible under the law,” declared Denise Katz-Prober, director of legal initiatives at the Brandeis Center. The complaint is similar to one the Brandeis Center filed in 2020 against the Univ. of Illinois, in that it uses Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to determine that Jews on campus were discriminated against on the basis of national origin. The so-called “Marcus rule,” named after Brandeis Center founder and chairman Kenneth L. Marcus from his time as Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Civil Rights, established that Title VI protects Jews, Muslims and Sikhs from discrimination based on national-origin, despite its not mentioning religion. Read LBD’s Title VI complaint and press release about it. News coverage included JNS and Inside Higher Ed. Brandeis Center founder and chairman Kenneth L. Marcus authored an op-ed for the New York Daily News discussing what the Brooklyn College case and Whoopi Goldberg’s recent Holocaust remarks have in common: “Goldberg’s comments, while deeply incorrect, reflect current orthodoxies infecting schools, universities and major corporations. In rejecting her mistakes, we must reexamine the ideology that sustained them. At Brooklyn College, Jewish students should be given the same opportunities as all other students, including the right to define their identity and express their perspective. Racism means what it has always meant: treating people differently because of their race. It must be eradicated wherever it is and whomever it targets.” Students Supporting Israel Chapter Reinstated at Duke University After months of Duke’s student government singling out its Student Supporting Israel chapter with discriminatory treatment – including revoking its recognition – it unanimously reversed the decision on February 24. Among the influential factors in changing the chapter’s fate was continuous strategic and legal guidance to Duke SSI students from the Brandeis Center – and our willingness to take legal action against the university if it had not taken corrective action. The Brandeis Center also warned Duke Univ. President Vincent Price that formally recognizing Duke’s SSI chapter was the “only way to ensure the university’s compliance” with federal law. “I commend the university for finally correcting the injustice that was done when SSI was singled out for discriminatory treatment and its recognition was revoked,” declared Alyza Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center. “It’s important to note that SSI was treated differently from the start….discriminated against…on the basis of the Zionist component of their Jewish identity. This type of discrimination must not happen at Duke or any other university. We were honored to support the Duke SSI students who exhibited remarkable strength and conviction, standing up for themselves and what’s right. At the Brandeis Center…we educate students of their rights under the law, and stand ready to use the law when necessary to ensure Jewish students are not discriminated against.” Jewish SUNY New Paltz Students Said Excluded From Sexual Assault Awareness Group Over Support for Israel (The Algemeiner) Jewish students who cofounded a sexual assault awareness group were kicked out for expressing support for Israel. After the campus newspaper broke the story, the group defended its position to exclude the Jewish students. “Jewish students who refused to shed a critical part of their Jewish identity were cast out as pariahs from the group they themselves founded for support. So where does that leave the Jewish victim of sexual assault?” stated Alyza Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center. “It is blatant discrimination and it must stop.” Ted Lieu Spearheads Bipartisan Congressional Letter Calling on Education Dept. to End Delays Investigating Antisemitism Complaints (Jewish Journal) U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu led a bipartisan effort to end the Dept. of Education’s delay implementing guidance meant to protect Jewish students on campus, which has persisted through the Trump and Biden administrations. Nearly 40 member of Congress publicly agreed with the Brandeis Center’s recommendation to the Education Dept: it should use its authority to focus university leaders on anti-Semitism; act with greater urgency, especially on pending cases; and complete the promised regulatory action. “It was great to see [Ted Lieu’s] letter and the fact that so many members of Congress joined him in expressing concern what Jewish students are facing on campus,” said Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. “It’s really important – even during this period when the regulation is pending – for the Education Dept., the Justice Dept., and even the White House, to send clear signals that Jewish students can’t be forgotten in the rush to deal with other issues.” Brandeis Center intern Davis Allen authored a blog post about the bipartisan, Congressional action aligned with our organization’s recommendation. Brandeis Center Urges Education Department: Close the Data Gap Between Religious Minorities and Other Groups A submission by the Brandeis Center to the Dept. of Education aims to close disparities in collection data gathered by American public schools – so that attacks on religious minorities are properly tracked. The Education Dept. only began tracking religious harassment during the 2015-16 school year, at the Brandeis Center’s urging, as part of the process it uses to collect harassment and bullying data on sex, race, color, religion, national origin and disability. Its initial report lists a staggering 10,848 religious-motivated incidents in a single year. Yet unlike the other categories – where the Education Dept. subdivides offenses into the different groups targeted – it still does not classify religious offenses by type of faith. The discrepancy leaves the Dept. of Education with a severe blind spot about dangers facing religious minorities, hindering its ability to develop an effective response. It cannot say how many anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim attacks occur in public schools, the way it can pinpoint anti-Black racism or anti-Hispanic discrimination based on national origin. Addressing this problem, the Brandeis Center formally submitted comments in response to the proposed regulations governing Civil Rights Data Collection for the 2021-22 school year: “Often the college students who harass or bully other college students harassed or bullied their peers during their K-12 years. Therefore, it is vital for CRDC to [track] religion/perceived religion issues to the same detailed extent as it covers other categories of bias incidents. Collecting this information will significantly contribute to safer K-12 environments for all students.” SHRM: “Employers should educate HR and DEI personnel about anti-Semitism” The Society for Human Resource Management shared insights from the Brandeis Center’s Kenneth L. Marcus with its 300,000 HR and business executive members in 165 countries in its article Combatting Antisemitism in the Workplace. The article recognized that anti-Semitic practices have expanded beyond Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs on college campuses – and are now infiltrating workplace DEI programs, too. “We’re seeing this increasingly, and it is particularly problematic for those of us who are committed to civil rights for everyone,” said Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. Brandeis Center alum: “Create a domestic anti-Semitism coordinator.” Hilary Miller, a former Brandeis Center intern, pointed out that while Deborah Lipstadt should be confirmed as the next U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, “the role she could play domestically is limited….The special envoy’s mandate is aimed at addressing ‘acts of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic incitement that occur in foreign countries.'” Miller strongly encouraged the U.S. to follow the examples of the U.K., Germany, Canada and other countries in creating a domestic anti-Semitism coordinator to face this concerning rise of anti-Jewish hatred. Professor Abraham Bell Challenges Amnesty International UK Report That Claims Israel is an “Apartheid” State Davis Allen (Brandeis Center intern) On February 3, the UK Lawyers For Israel Charitable Trust hosted a webinar titled “Amnesty International’s Latest Attack on Israel.” Professor Abraham Bell, a frequent Brandeis Center partner, explained that Amnesty’s recent report alleging Israel is responsible for apartheid has been dismissed outright by the Biden administration and others as “absurd”. He identified flaws in the report’s allegations and discussed Amnesty International UK’s wider agenda. Read Davis Allen’s blog and watch UKLFI’s webinar. Our friends at the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism have issued a call for papers and panels for its “21st Century Antisemitism” conference. Submission deadline: March 1, 2022. More information here. Co-founders Lesley Klaff, Alvin Rosenfeld and Dina Porat sit on our Academic Advisory Board. Co-founder David Hirsh is a friend to our organizaiton. 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 Donate Here The Louis D. Brandeis Center 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1025, Washington, DC 20006 You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.