Title VI - Brandeis Center

Published in The Algemeiner on 6/4/24; Story by Dion Pierre

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law has prevailed in its latest civil rights case brought forth on behalf of a North Carolina middle schooler who was bullied for being “perceived” as Jewish.

Last week, the nonprofit civil rights group announced that the Community School of Davidson, a charter school located in North Carolina, agreed to settle a complaint alleging that administrators failed to address a series of heinous antisemitic incidents in which the non-Jewish student, whose name is redacted from the public record, was called a “dirty Jew,” told that “the oven is that way,” and battered with other denigrating comments too vulgar for publication. The abuse, according to the complaint, began after the child wore an Israeli sports jersey.

“This is a very important settlement. It reflects the severity of antisemitism we’re now seeing not only on college campuses but also in K-12 schools,” Brandeis Center chairman and former US assistant education secretary Kenneth Marcus said in a statement. “This case also shows the various ways in which non-Jews as well as Jews can be harmed by antisemitic attitudes. The law recognizes that discrimination against those ‘perceived’ to be Jewish must be addressed because it is still bigotry, and it can quickly and dangerously multiply and seep into an entire community.”

Marcus continued, “We commend the courage of this family including a child for coming forward.”

The student, an eight-grader, was threatened and physically assaulted, according to the complaint, which noted that officials at the middle school were aware of the problem but did not take steps to address the daily bullying.

As part of the settlement with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Community School of Davidson has agreed, among other things, to issue a statement proclaiming a zero tolerance policy for racist abuse, institute anti-discrimination training for teachers and staff, and “develop or revise” its approach to responding to racial bigotry.

“It would be hard to overstate the impact this has had on my child,” the student’s mother said in a statement. “It is critical that educators not only understand the seriousness and danger of letting antisemitism flourish in their schools, but also that they are capable of taking proper action to effectively confront it and protect our children.”

This case isn’t the first the Brandeis Center has pursued on behalf of K-12 students. In February, it filed a complaint alleging that the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) in California has caused severe psychological trauma to Jewish students as young as eight years old and fostered a hostile learning environment.

The problem exploded after Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, the suit charged. Since then, BUSD teachers have allegedly used their classrooms to promote antisemitic tropes about Israel, weaponizing disciplines such as art and history to convince unsuspecting minors that Israel is a “settler-colonial” apartheid state committing a genocide of Palestinians. While this took place, high-level BUSD officials allegedly ignored complaints about discrimination and tacitly approved hateful conduct even as it spread throughout the student body.

At Berkeley High School, for example, a history teacher allegedly forced students to explain why Israel is an apartheid state and screened an anti-Zionist documentary. The teacher sharply squelched dissent, telling a Jewish student who raised concerns about the content of her lessons that only anti-Zionist narratives matter in her classroom and that any other which argues that Israel isn’t an apartheid state is “laughable.” Elsewhere in the school, an art teacher, whose name is redacted from the complaint for matters of privacy, displayed anti-Israel artworks in his classroom, one of which showed a fist punching through a Star of David.

At several schools throughout BUSD, students were recruited to assist anti-Zionists teachers in cheering Hamas’ atrocities as “liberation.” They were called on to join “walk outs” and rewarded with excused absences in return for their participation, another violation of district policy forbidding excused absences for all but the most important reasons. These demonstrations became salvos of antisemitic rhetoric. During one organized at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, students shouted “KKK,” “Kill Israel,” “Kill the Jews,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In another incident, the second-grade teacher who threatened a parent instructed her students to write “Stop bombing babies” on sticky notes.

The behavior of BUSD teachers and the benefits they offered in exchange for engaging in antisemitic behavior sent a strong signal to students that hating Jews is normal, socially acceptable behavior, the complaint explained. Acting on such approval, they proceeded to bully Jewish students with impunity. “You have a big nose because you are a stupid Jew,” a Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School student allegedly told their Jewish classmate. Another called a Jewish student a “midget Jew,” and throughout the district it became a trend to ask Jewish students if they have a “number,” an allusion to tattoos given to Jewish concentration camp prisoners during the Holocaust.

“The Jewish community was slower than we should have been to grasp the threat posed by antisemitism in higher education. Now we’re in danger of repeating the same problem in elementary and secondary education,” Marcus told The Algemeiner on Tuesday. “It is horrifying to acknowledge, but the fact is that the situation in many high schools is starting to replicate some of our most worrisome campuses. Elementary schools are not safe either. One ramification is that college campuses may get even worse, as entering freshmen arrive after having already been indoctrinated while in elementary and secondary schools.”

Anti-Semitic bullying reported at Davidson charter school leads to policy changes

DAVIDSON, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS; June 5, 2024) — A Davidson charter school has agreed to make changes around harassment and training after a complaint was filed that detailed a student enduring anti-Semitic bullying from classmates.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint on behalf of the Community School of Davidson student and his family in August of 2023. It says the seventh-grader faced the remarks for two school years.

The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and centered around harassment that occurred between August 2021 through May 2023.

It also stated that CSD’s teachers and even administrators knew about the harassment.

In documents obtained by Queen City News, the complaint alleged that the student, who is non-Jewish, was bullied by classmates after he wore an Israeli Olympic jersey of his favorite Major League Baseball player.

The complaint described “vicious anti-Semitic” comments directed at the middle schooler that also occurred during a class lecture about the Holocaust.

The child was said to have been “distressed and isolated by the daily abuse and degradation he endured.”

In March of 2023, he notified his mother who reported it to the school administration.

It was later reported in findings by the Office for Civil Rights that CSD asked “the teacher to increase their supervision of the students involved and conducted interviews with the students identified.”

However, “there is no evidence that after substantiating that harassing conduct occurred in March 2023, the School took steps to address the harassment with the Student to mitigate its effects.”

CSD released a statement to Queen City News regarding the complaint:

“The Community School of Davidson (“CSD”) was built on the founding principles of community and inclusion. Our mission is to provide an optimal environment for learning in which teachers and parents work together to create an inclusive environment for all students. We abide by all federal and state anti-discrimination laws and will continue to do so. All complaints received by CSD are investigated in accordance with CSD’s policies and procedures, as well as federal and state laws and regulations.

“With regard to the complaint filed with OCR, CSD voluntarily entered into a resolution agreement with OCR. OCR made no findings of any wrongdoing on the part of CSD. Instead, CSD agreed to bolster trainings, policies, and routine school activities to ensure the necessary safeguards are implemented to protect all students and staff from discrimination, harassment, and bullying or any perception of the same.“

However, in its analysis of how the school handled its investigation into the complaint the Office of Civil Rights did name instances of “failure.”

OCR stated it found evidence to show the student was harassed, thereby creating a “hostile environment,” and that “OCR is concerned that the School failed to consistently take prompt and effective steps to redress the environment.

It was also discovered that the school did not properly document its investigation which could have led to the school not properly identifying the hostile environment which led to future abuse.

Read the full analysis of the findings here.

Before the investigation was complete, OCR and CSD entered into an agreement that included better training for educators to identify instances of hate speech, proper documentation of investigations into these matters, and a future assessment of the climate on campus in the first quarter of 2024-2025.

Read the settlement here.

The OCR will also follow up with the school to ensure the changes are in place.

Mother of bullied middle-schooler testified at Congressional briefing this month

Washington, D.C., May 30, 2024: A North Carolina public charter school agreed to settle a U.S. Department of Education investigation into severe, persistent, and pervasive anti-Semitic bullying that went unaddressed in one of its charter schools for two full academic years. The settlement requires the school to take concrete steps to address the systemic anti-Semitism it allowed to fester in its community.

According to the settlement, the Community School of Davidson has entered into a resolution agreement with the Department of Education to resolve a federal complaint filed by The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law on behalf of a non-Jewish eighth-grade boy who faced daily abuse after he wore the Israeli Olympic jersey of his favorite Major League Baseball player. From that moment on he was treated with vicious, severe and relentless harassment and bullying by a group of nine classmates for being a Jew. He was called “dirty Jew,” “filthy Jew,” and “penny picker upper,” and told to “get in the gas chamber,” “go back to your concentration camp,” “go to your oven Jew,” “the oven is that way,” and “go die Jew.” The bullying occurred every single day all over school, even during Holocaust class, for two years. He was also threatened and physically assaulted.

Officials at the middle school were fully aware of the problem yet they refused to take steps to address the daily bullying and physical assaults.

“It would be hard to overstate the impact this has had on my child,” said the boy’s mother, who asked that her name and her son’s name be withheld, during a recent congressional briefing on Capitol Hill about rising anti-Semitism in K-12 schools. “As a parent this has been completely devastating.”

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin, including discrimination against Jews, or those perceived to be Jewish, on the basis of their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics in educational institutions that receive federal funding.

In the settlement, the Department of Education confirmed that the evidence substantiated the Brandeis Center’s claim that the child was subjected to a hostile environment based on his perceived Jewish shared ancestry, and that the school knew about it and did not take prompt and effective steps to address it or the broader hostile environment at the school. The Department of Education went on to admonish the school for failing to properly investigate, failing to take “timely, reasonable, and effective steps to eliminate the hostile environment,” and failing to “put in effective supports for bystanders who may have witnessed the antisemitic comments and experienced the impact of a hostile environment,” and it cautioned that these failures “may have impeded the School from identifying whether a hostile environment existed for other students.”

“This is a very important settlement. It reflects the severity of anti-Semitism we’re now seeing not only on college campuses but also in K-12 schools. This case also shows the various ways in which non-Jews as well as Jews can be harmed by anti-Semitic attitudes. The law recognizes that discrimination against those ‘perceived’ to be Jewish must be addressed because it is still bigotry, and it can quickly and dangerously multiply and seep into an entire community. We commend the courage of this family including a child for coming forward,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, chair of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education.

The agreement requires the school to take the following immediate steps:

Publish and publicize a statement that it does not tolerate “acts of harassment based on a student’s actual or perceived race, color, or national origin including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics (e.g. antisemitism)”;
Review and revise its policies and procedures for non-discrimination and reporting to ensure it specifies prohibited harassment based on “actual or perceived shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics,” including providing examples of harassment based on shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics;
Develop or revise procedures for documenting complaints of harassment and actions taken in response by the school;
Annual trainings of school staff and administrators on anti-discrimination law under Title VI, including actual or perceived shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics;
Conduct annual trainings of staff involved in processing, investigating, and resolving complaints of discrimination and harassment, including “racial sensitivity training, including on the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics”;
Develop a student informational program for students to address discrimination including on the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics;
Conduct audits for the last two school years to determine if any incidents constituted discrimination including harassment on basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry and ethnicity, and if they find harassment occurred, the school must take steps to remedy the harassment towards affected students;
Conduct an audit at the end of the 2024-25 school year to assess compliance with the school’s anti-discrimination policies and procedures; and
Conduct a climate assessment during 2024-25 school year and ensure parents and students have access to a counselor to discuss incidents and concerns.

The Department of Education indicated that it will monitor the Community School of Davidson until it determines it is in compliance with the terms of the settlement and the law.

“The fact that the school would ignore this is reprehensible,” stated Marcus. “Unfortunately, though, far too many K-12 school districts and universities are taking the easy way out and allowing schools to become hostile environments for Jews, and by default anyone perceived to be Jewish. We urge the Department of Education to resolve other pending cases expeditiously so we can begin to turn the tide on this dangerous wave of anti-Semitism.”

The boy’s mother added, “It is critical that educators not only understand the seriousness and danger of letting anti-Semitism flourish in their schools, but also that they are capable of taking proper action to effectively confront it and protect our children.” The Brandeis Center also filed a federal complaint against Berkeley Unified School District and is suing the New York Department of Education for unaddressed anti-Semitism in K-12 schools. And the Department of Education is currently investigating Brandeis Center complaints for unaddressed anti-Semitism on numerous college campuses, including Wellesley, SUNY New Paltz, the University of Southern California, Brooklyn College, and the University of Illinois. The organization also recently filed complaints against American University, UC Santa Barbara, Occidental College, Pomona College, UMass-Amherst, and Ohio State University.

Contact: Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724

Washington, D.C., May 16, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law today filed a federal civil rights complaint against the University of Santa Barbara (UCSB) for leaving its own student government president, Tessa Veksler, utterly vulnerable to severe and persistent anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, intimidation, and threats. The harassment escalated to such a degree it forced Veksler to stay off campus during the end of the fall semester and take her exams online. The Brandeis Center is representing Veksler.

Veksler was elected president of the UCSB Associated Students (AS) in April 2023, making history by becoming the school’s first Sabbath observant student body president. She is the daughter of Soviet refugees who fled Jewish persecution, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compelled her to run. According to Veksler, her parents came to the U.S. in search of a society where they could live freely from anti-Semitism. Yet, a generation later, she is facing anti-Semitic hate for serving her university.

According to the complaint, Veksler has been targeted relentlessly on social media and at her student government office by her peers on the basis of an integral component of her Jewish identity, namely, her “Zionism,” which recognizes that Jews are part of a people with an ancestral connection to Israel. Threats such as, “you can run but you can’t hide, Tessa Veksler;” attacks calling her a Zionist dog, racist, and fascist; and repeated accusations that she is unfit to serve in her elected position due to her Jewish identity, have plagued her since October 7. Just last month, in a poster featuring Veksler and other students, a photo of Veksler’s face was violently slashed. The constant harassment has left Veksler fearful for her physical safety on campus, negatively impacted her mental health, adversely affected her academic performance, and undermined her ability to lead student government.

“No individual should ever have to experience what I went through as a Jewish student at UCSB – harassment, intimidation, threats, and character assassination all in the form of pure anti-Semitic hatred,” stated Veksler. “Despite the challenges I have faced, I knew that nothing would stop me from standing up for the Jewish community, maintaining my democratically-elected position, and pursuing justice for myself after being relentlessly targeted on the basis of my Jewish identity.”

The situation began online where Veksler was repeatedly cyberbullied and doxed. And after it was left unchecked by the university for numerous months, the harassment migrated to the campus. In February, students plastered signs throughout the Multicultural Center, where Veksler’s student government office is located, threatening her and making it clear Veksler is unwelcome on campus and should be excluded. The messages on posters stated: “Zionists are not welcome,” “Zionists not welcome,” “Ziofascists GTFO [get the f**k out],” “Zionists not allowed,” “AS president is racist Zionist,” and “Get these Zionists out of office.” Some of the posters contained ominous warnings directed at Veksler.

The harassment was further publicized to the entire student body community when photographs were posted on UCSB Multicultural Center’s official Instagram account. The harassment continued online with demeaning messages and veiled threats that included, “You are disgusting. Zionists are NOT welcome in the MCC [Multicultural Center]. We will not back down and we WILL take action.” One post stated, “Zionist dog is sad she can’t harass the non-white students she presides over :(,” and another remarked, “Everyone, take a moment of your time to feel bad for this genocide-supporting racist piece of shit,” and “f**k your white comfort in stealing a multicultural center.” Other posts invoked age-old anti-Semitic tropes including the greedy Jew and claims Jews cannot be trusted to hold elected office.

Some of the harassing messages suggested Jews are not a minority group and do not belong at the Multicultural Center at all.

According to the complaint, the university has largely ignored the harassment, threats, and attacks, failing to stop the harassment or adequately address the hostile environment, and the few steps it has taken have been severely insufficient. It has failed to even put out a statement specifically condemning anti-Semitic efforts to bully and intimidate its own Jewish student president.

The Brandeis Center demands UCSB conduct an immediate and full investigation of the discriminatory and harassing behavior against Veksler and take appropriate disciplinary action against perpetrators. To prevent future incidents like this, they also urge the university to issue a statement clearly and specifically condemning anti-Semitic harassment and efforts to shun and marginalize Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity and commit to conducting anti-Semitism education and training of faculty, students and staff.

“What has been allowed to happen to Tessa over many months – shaming, harassing, and shunning a student until they disavow a part of their Judaism – is shameful and illegal,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. “Sadly, this is not the first time we are seeing this mob behavior against a Jewish student elected by their student body to serve. It is incumbent upon UC Santa Barbara and all universities to say enough is enough.”

Brandeis Center attorneys also represented Rose Ritch when anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination led to her resignation as University of Southern California’s (USC) student government vice president and Max Price, a Tufts student government official similarly threatened with impeachment and disciplinary hearings. Ritch and Price were both attacked for the Zionist component of their Jewish identity. After the Brandeis Center intervened, Students for Justice in Palestine withdrew their call to impeach Price. The Department of Education is currently investigating USC.

Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, including discrimination against Jews on the basis of their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Under the law, harassing, marginalizing, demonizing, and excluding Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity is unlawful. UNESCO has cautioned that “Jew” and “Zionist” are often used interchangeably today in an attempt by anti-Semites to cloak their hate. According to President Biden’s U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released in May 2023, “Jewish students and educators are targeted for derision and exclusion on college campuses, often because of their real or perceived views about the State of Israel. When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.”

Last week the Brandeis Center and ADL filed civil rights complaints against Pomona and Occidental Colleges for severe anti-Semitic bullying, intimidation and physical threats. And the Department of Education opened an investigation into a complaint filed by the Brandeis Center and ADL about “severe and pervasive” anti-Semitism in Berkeley K-12 public schools.

The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law is an independent, unaffiliated, nonprofit corporation established to advance the civil and human rights of the Jewish people and promote justice for all. LDB engages in research, education, and legal advocacy to combat the resurgence of anti-Semitism on college and university campuses, in the workplace, and elsewhere. It empowers students by training them to understand their legal rights and educates administrators and employers on best practices to combat racism and anti-Semitism. More at www.brandeiscenter.com

Brandeis Center/ADL file federal complaints with U.S. Dept of Education

Contact: Brandeis Center, Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724 l nicole@rosencomm.com

ADL, Todd Gutnick 212-885-7755 | adlmedia@adl.org

Washington, D.C., May 9, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today announced they have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against two California colleges — Occidental and Pomona — for permitting severe discrimination and harassment of Jewish students in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Arnold & Porter joined the Brandeis Center and ADL in the filing against Pomona College.

Since 10/7, Jewish and Israeli students on both campuses have been verbally harassed and physically surrounded, followed, threatened, and intimidated by protestors. They have been shouted at, told to “go back to the gas chambers,” and called “kike,” “f**king Jew,” “f**king Zionist,” and “murderer.” Many have been obstructed from moving freely about campus and cannot carry out their jobs or partake in educational opportunities as a result of anti-Semitic bullying, and some have even been physically assaulted. Many Jewish students confine themselves to their dorm rooms or refrain from participating in certain educational and/or extracurricular activities, avoiding certain dining halls or cafés, common areas on campus, and campus events to avoid anti-Semitic harassment. Several have transferred to other schools due to persistent anti-Semitism.

“Jewish students on these campuses are hiding in their dorms and avoiding their own campus rather than risk verbal and physical attacks,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. “Pomona and Occidental know full well this is happening. But instead of enforcing the law and their own policies, they are caving to the anti-Semitic mob and letting them bully, harass, and intimidate Jewish students. Anti-Semitism left unaddressed will not go away. It will only snowball and escalate until the problem is faced head on as the law requires.”

“There’s simply no excuse for the persistent and pervasive antisemitic harassment being faced by Jewish students at Occidental and Pomona colleges,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. “No student should be forced to transfer due to continual harassment. We urge the U.S. Department of Education to investigate these schools for potential civil rights violations and to take effective measures to protect Jewish students on these campuses.”

Occidental College

Occidental is fully aware of the pervasive and hostile environment for Jewish students, and has ignored and enabled it.

The complaint details how Jewish students were forced out of school-sponsored employment opportunities due to severe and pervasive anti-Semitic environments. Many Jewish students chose to leave their jobs rather than continue to subject themselves to anti-Semitic attacks, Holocaust inversion, and harassment while others chose to take unsafe routes home rather than continue to be harassed.

At every turn, Occidental has put its Jewish students last, swiftly enforcing policies against its Jewish students while continuing to ignore the same or similar violations from the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic crowd. Jewish students are harassed and obstructed daily on campus, in their dorms, in the dining hall, and more. One particularly egregious incident occurred when anti-Semitic protests occupied and vandalized the central administrative building for nearly a week. Despite several warnings to the trespassing students and staff, Occidental forwent enforcing school policies and instead capitulated to the occupiers’ demands. Occidental sent a clear message – when the victims of violations are Jewish, the rules will not be enforced.

Faculty at Occidental have also played a role in encouraging the anti-Semitic environment. One professor told her students she felt “invigorated” by the Hamas terrorist attack and encouraged students to share her excitement. Others have participated in pro-Hamas chanting and made anti-Semitic statements. More than 60 faculty members sent an email denying that Hamas’ actions were terrorism. The school has said nothing to condemn these anti-Semitic declarations, sending a green light to students that this behavior is permitted.

Pomona College

The already hostile environment for Jewish students at Pomona took a turn for the worse immediately following the October 7 terrorist attack with various student groups and members of the faculty loudly supporting the murderous Hamas attacks, blaming the Israeli victims, and creating a shrine honoring the Hamas terrorists. Pomona students blocked access to buildings, interfered with classes and school events, and harassed current and prospective students. At first, the Pomona administration did very little to remedy the hostile environment. But as the situation deteriorated, President G. Gabrielle Starr eventually began to respond. But despite her laudable, albeit belated efforts to address growing antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on campus, Pomona failed to eliminate the hostile environment, in part, because the opposition from pro-Hamas students and faculty had already grown too strong.

Multiple incidents of physical violence and intimidation occurred during the numerous explicitly pro-Hamas protests that took place at Pomona. For example, during one demonstration, protestors surrounded Jewish students who were putting up posters of hostages, physically preventing them from hanging the posters. The protestors then followed the Jewish students and a Jewish adult staff member, obstructed their paths, verbally harassed them, and tore up at least 300 of the Jewish students’ pre-approved flyers. Later that day a protestor saw one of the Jewish students and aggressively pushed him into a wall. The Jewish student was then tailed by other protestors who threatened and intimidated him. The school has taken no action and school security has even refused to watch security footage of the protest incident. Most Jewish students sheltered in in their dorms or left campus entirely for their safety, missing classes to avoid the physically hostile demonstrators.

Another protest was so disruptive, including loud antisemitic chants and the blocking of entrances, forcing President Starr to cancel her Family Weekend Address. During another protest, when a student tried to move past the demonstrators to attend the Harry Potter Dinner, an annual Pomona tradition, the demonstrators blocked and grabbed him. Protestors have also disrupted and harassed prospective student tours to such a degree that one prospective student started sobbing. The message was clear: Jewish families and Jewish students are not welcome at Pomona. During a recent protest, President Starr had to call the police to protect herself and the Pomona community at large, resulting in nineteen arrests for criminal trespass and obstruction of justice. This conduct has ensued despite President Starr’s warnings to the Pomona community, her attempts to impose order on campus, and her efforts to offer support to the victimized Jewish and Israeli students.

“I have seen anti-Semitism here grow tremendously in the last 3 years,” stated Pomona student, Ayelet Kleinerman. “I have raised it with the administration many times, but even when they had the opportunity to take it seriously, they didn’t. They’ve called the police for their own safety, but they are not doing enough to protect Jewish students. From hate speech to retaliation in class and outside it to the mob that is occupying our campus and has taken over much of campus life, Jewish students are scared.”

Earlier this week the Department of Education opened an investigation into a complaint filed by the Brandeis Center and ADL about “severe and pervasive” anti-Semitism in Berkeley K-12 public schools.

ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all. More at www.adl.org.

Contact: Brandeis Center, Nicole Rosen 202-309-5724 l nicole@rosencomm.com

ADL, Todd Gutnick 212-885-7755 | adlmedia@adl.org

Washington, D.C., May 7, 2024: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today it has opened a formal investigation into a complaint that the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) failed to address non-stop “severe and persistent” bullying and harassment of Jewish students in classrooms, hallways, schools yards, and walkouts since October 7, 2023.

BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel is also being called to testify tomorrow before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce about BUSD’s anti-Semitism problem. This is the Committee’s first K-12 hearing on anti-Semitism. It has held two hearings on college anti-Semitism where Committee members questioned the heads of Harvard, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, including discrimination against Jews based on their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Under the law, harassing, marginalizing, demonizing, and excluding Jewish students based on the Zionist component of their Jewish identity is unlawful. UNESCO has cautioned that “Jew” and “Zionist” are often used interchangeably today in an attempt by anti-Semites to cloak their hate. President Biden’s US National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released in May 2023, observed that “When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism. And that is unacceptable.”

The Title VI complaint being investigated by the Department of Education was filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), and it documents dozens of incidents such as students shouting “f— the Jews” and “KKK,” graffiti stating “Kill Jews,” and teachers indoctrinating students with anti-Semitic tropes and biased, one-sided anti-Israel propaganda disguised as education. BUSD has not only failed to address the cascading anti-Semitism, according to the complaint, it has permitted retaliation against parents who complained.

The organizations first filed the complaint in February calling on the Department of Education to intervene. They documented numerous incidents including anti-Semitic comments, such as “kill the Jews,” non-Jewish students asking Jewish students what “their number is,” referring to numbers tattooed on Jews during the Holocaust, Jewish students being told “I don’t like your people” and being derided for their physical appearance, and Jewish students being blamed and demonized. The complaint also documented how students have had to endure anti-Semitic teacher rants and class activities and teacher-promoted “walkouts” that praise Hamas. In fact, during an unauthorized teacher-promoted walkout for Palestine, no teachers intervened as students shouted, “Kill the Jews,” “KKK,” “Kill Israel,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Yesterday, the organizations expanded the complaint, advising OCR that in the last three months, anti-Jewish bigotry and harassment has only escalated and the environment has become even more hostile and threatening. Some of the new incidents described in the expanded complaint include, “Kill Jews” scrawled at Berkeley High School, “Kill all Zionists” written at the bus stop used by many Berkeley High School students to get to and from school, children on the playground saying “Jews are stupid,” a ninth-grader bullied after his parent reported anti-Semitic incidents, teachers continuing to teach one-sided anti-Israel propaganda disguised as education, and removal of posters condemning anti-Semitism and supporting Israel’s right to exist, while anti-Israel and pro-Hamas posters remain undisturbed.

Parents have repeatedly reported anti-Semitic incidents to the administration, but BUSD has done nothing to address, much less curtail, the hostile environment that has plagued BUSD since October 7, and is continuing to pick up steam. Instead of addressing teachers’ anti-Semitic behavior, BUSD officials have chosen to disrupt the Jewish students’ learning by moving them into new classes, further ostracizing and marginalizing them from their peers and normalizing anti-Semitic behavior.

Jewish students report being worried about mob violence, including being “jumped” at school. Many have said they remove their Stars of David and no longer wear Jewish camp t-shirts, and that they are learning to keep their heads down, hide their Judaism and move through their school days in fear. Some students have left the district due to the pervasive bullying.

“Berkeley would never sit idly by and allow vicious threats, harassment, and intimidation of any other minority group, yet when it comes to Jews, seven months of crickets. Making matters even worse, they are permitting teachers, their employees, to indoctrinate students with lesson plans chock full of anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Israel propaganda,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, founder and chairman of the Brandeis Center and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights for George W. Bush and Donald Trump. “Reprehensible is an understatement here. It is high time BUSD enforces federal and state law to address the dangerous anti-Semitism snowballing in front of them.”

“We believe there’s a disturbing and clear pattern of anti-Semitic intimidation and harassment in the Berkeley school system, and we are pleased the Office of Civil Rights has opened a formal civil rights investigation,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Jewish grade school students — like all students — deserve the ability to attend school in a climate free of prejudice, threats or bias.”

Shared-Ancesty-Dear-Colleague-Letter-Final Download

Published by WFXT-TV (Boston 25) on 5/2/24; Story by Maria Papadopoulos

AMHERST, Mass. — The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has failed to address a “hostile antisemitic environment” against Jewish students on its campus, according to a federal complaint filed this week by the Anti-Defamation League.

The complaint, filed by the ADL and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law on Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, comes amid ongoing protests over the Israel-Hamas war seen at colleges and universities nationwide and concerning reports of antisemitic activity on college campuses across America.

The complaint alleges that UMass-Amherst has failed to address “severe discrimination and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students,” including a violent assault against a Jewish student. The complaint seeks remedies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Even after a violent antisemitic assault on campus, UMass has done nothing to make Jewish students feel safe and, infuriatingly, this assault is the tip of the iceberg – part of a persistent pattern of enabling hate against Jews,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and national director, said in a statement. “This is a textbook example of an administration that is deliberately indifferent and negligent – the U.S. Department of Education must intervene immediately.”

UMass is among several schools where concerns have been raised about antisemitism on campus.

In February, the co-chairperson of Harvard University’s talk force on antisemitism resigned amid concerns that the prestigious Ivy League school would not act on the group’s recommendations. That same month, Harvard condemned what it called a “flagrantly antisemitic cartoon” that an undergraduate group posted on social media.

House Republicans this week launched an investigation into federal funding for universities amid the campus protests and reports of growing antisemitism on college and university campuses, The Associated Press reported.

“We will not allow antisemitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Dylan Jacobs, a senior at UMass-Amherst, was called an antisemitic slur and then punched and kicked repeatedly by another student in an attack corroborated by multiple eyewitnesses, according to the complaint.

“A small Israeli flag was ripped from his hand, stabbed and thrown in a trash can. While UMass-Amherst was quick to condemn the attack, it did little beyond that,” the ADL said in a statement. “Instead, it spent nearly six months ignoring the incident, despite requests from the victim to address the matter.”

Jacobs was subsequently given a no-contact order and “told he must stay away from members of Students for Justice in Palestine,” who could still approach Jacobs, the ADL said.

“This could effectively create a situation in which Mr. Jacobs is in violation of the directive through no fault of his own. But, without explanation, the SJP members were not subjected to a no-contact order,” the ADL said. “UMass-Amherst failed to provide Mr. Jacobs with any information regarding the basis of said no-contact directive and effectively established a potentially dangerous dynamic.”

University officials have yet to hold Jacobs’ attacker accountable, Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights for George W. Bush and Donald Trump, said in a statement.

“A Jewish student was charged at and repeatedly and violently punched and kicked for holding an Israeli flag at a Hillel Bring Them Home event, and what did the university do? They issued a statement urging ‘peaceful advocacy’ and simultaneously condemned Islamophobia,” Marcus said. “Adding insult to injury, it took them five months to hold a hearing on the violent assault and they have yet to hold the attacker accountable.”

“What kind of message does this send to the UMass community? It is no wonder anti-Semitic protestors continue to block entrances and exits to buildings, call for violence against Jews, harass and intimidate Jewish students, disrupt events and spew anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” Marcus said. “Following the law, holding perpetrators accountable and issuing consequences is not rocket science. It’s beyond shameful that we have to call in the Department of Education to get a school to address a violent anti-Semitic assault and ensure other students aren’t similarly attacked.”

The complaint cites additional examples of antisemitic incidents including “genocidal chants, antisemitic slurs, and physical threats.”

“There were statements from UMass-Amherst student groups praising Hamas’s terrorism as justified ‘resistance,’ and disruptive pro-Hamas protests that prevented people from physically entering or exiting buildings, working, or studying,” the ADL said.

“There was also online harassment of Jewish students in a group chat, which included derogatory, vile, and antisemitic language. This rhetoric was so egregious that a perpetrator’s account was banned from a UMass public school page,” the ADL said.

The complaint urges the Office for Civil Rights “to compel the university’s administration to implement a series of measures necessary to secure the safety of Jewish students at UMass, including issuing a public statement condemning antisemitic hostility and the BDS movement, urging the university to incorporate the IHRA working definition of antisemitism into its campus policies to better recognize the types of antisemitic discrimination confronting Jewish students, and providing mandatory antisemitism training to university administrators, faculty, students and staff.”

Media Contact:

Nicole Rosen, nicole@rosencomm.com, 202-309-5724

Complaint claims school failed to protect students,

including after violent antisemitic assault

May 2, 2024 – ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law today announced that they submitted a formal complaint against the University of Massachusetts Amherst with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) alleging that the university has failed to address the severe discrimination and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students, which fostered a hostile antisemitic environment.

The complaint alleges that since the events on Oct. 7, Jewish students at UMass-Amherst have faced a litany of antisemitic incidents, including a violent assault. The complaint seeks remedies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“Even after a violent antisemitic assault on campus, UMass has done nothing to make Jewish students feel safe and, infuriatingly, this assault is the tip of the iceberg – part of a persistent pattern of enabling hate against Jews,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. “This is a textbook example of an administration that is deliberately indifferent and negligent – the U.S. Department of Education must intervene immediately.”

In an attack corroborated by multiple eyewitnesses, the Complainant, UMass-Amherst Senior Dylan Jacobs was called a “Zionist s***bag” and then punched and kicked repeatedly by another student. A small Israeli flag was ripped from his hand, stabbed and thrown in a trash can. While UMass-Amherst was quick to condemn the attack, it did little beyond that. Instead, it spent nearly six months ignoring the incident, despite requests from the victim to address the matter.

Mr. Jacobs was also bizarrely subject to a no-contact directive without any basis provided, told he must stay away from members of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), but the SJP members could still approach him. This could effectively create a situation in which Mr. Jacobs is in violation of the directive through no fault of his own. But, without explanation, the SJP members were not subjected to a no-contact order. UMass-Amherst failed to provide Mr. Jacobs with any information regarding the basis of said no-contact directive and effectively established a potentially dangerous dynamic.

“A Jewish student was charged at and repeatedly and violently punched and kicked for holding an Israeli flag at a Hillel Bring Them Home event, and what did the university do? They issued a statement urging ‘peaceful advocacy’ and simultaneously condemned Islamophobia. Adding insult to injury, it took them five months to hold a hearing on the violent assault and they have yet to hold the attacker accountable. What kind of message does this send to the UMass community? It is no wonder anti-Semitic protestors continue to block entrances and exits to buildings, call for violence against Jews, harass and intimidate Jewish students, disrupt events and spew anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” stated Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights for George W. Bush and Donald Trump. “Following the law, holding perpetrators accountable and issuing consequences is not rocket science. It’s beyond shameful that we have to call in the Department of Education to get a school to address a violent anti-Semitic assault and ensure other students aren’t similarly attacked.”

Additional specific examples of antisemitic incidents cited in the complaint include genocidal chants, antisemitic slurs, and physical threats. There were statements from UMass-Amherst student groups praising Hamas’s terrorism as justified “resistance,” and disruptive pro-Hamas protests that prevented people from physically entering or exiting buildings, working, or studying.

There was also online harassment of Jewish students in a group chat, which included derogatory, vile, and antisemitic language. This rhetoric was so egregious that a perpetrator’s account was banned from a UMass public school page.

The complaint urges OCR to compel the university’s administration to implement a series of measures necessary to secure the safety of Jewish students at UMass, including issuing a public statement condemning antisemitic hostility and the BDS movement, urging the university to incorporate the IHRA working definition of antisemitism into its campus policies to better recognize the types of antisemitic discrimination confronting Jewish students, and providing mandatory antisemitism training to university administrators, faculty, students and staff.

In addition to ADL and the Brandeis Center, Jason Torchinsky and Erielle Davidson from Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC and Douglas Brooks from Libby Hoopes Brooks & Mulvey, P.C. are serving as the plaintiff’s counsel in this case.

Presented by Brandeis Center President Alyza D. Lewin

This virtual presentation is intended for higher education leaders and administrators in departments related to student and academic affairs, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and legal affairs, communications, development, and positions such as president, provost, and deans’ offices, etc.

More information is available about the Brandeis University Presidential Initiative to Counter Antisemitism in Higher Education and this event featuring President Lewin.

Watch the video recording of President Lewin’s speech here and download her source sheet here.