{"id":36177,"date":"2024-12-21T01:52:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T07:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=36177"},"modified":"2024-12-21T03:39:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-21T09:39:48","slug":"university-of-california-campuses-resolve-discrimination-complaints-stemming-from-gaza-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=36177","title":{"rendered":"University of California campuses resolve discrimination complaints stemming from Gaza protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it has reached an agreement with the University of California system resolving complaints from Jewish and Muslim students of discrimination and harassment during protests last spring<\/a> over the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights said it investigated nine complaints against University of California schools in Los Angeles (UCLA), Santa Barbara, San Diego, Davis and Santa Cruz. The complaints alleged the schools failed to respond effectively to antisemitic and anti-Arab harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The civil rights office concluded the universities \u201cappear not to have responded promptly or effectively\u201d to allegations of discrimination and harassment that were brought to the administrations\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the agreement, the schools must step up reporting of complaints to the OCR office and review all complaints and reports of harassment from the past two academic years to determine if further action is needed. The agreement also calls for more training of university employees and campus police officers about their obligations under federal law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of California system said the agreement is one of several steps it is taking to ensure its campuses are respectful and welcoming to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEnsuring an inclusive University environment requires sustained focus and action,\u201d the system said in a written statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colleges and universities nationwide saw tension and at times violence erupt on campuses<\/a> after the onset of the Israel-Hamas war, with dueling campus rallies and widespread allegations of antisemitism and anti-Arab harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Education has been investigating dozens of complaints that campuses violated Title VI, which bars discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color and national origin at colleges and universities that receive federal funding. Examples of harassment can include slurs, taunts, stereotypes, name-calling and racially motivated attacks or hateful conduct, according to the department\u2019s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department reached a similar agreement with Brown University<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A separate investigation found the University of Cincinnati did not respond appropriately to reports of harassment, the Office of Civil Rights said Friday. Examples from some two dozen complaints include a Palestinian student who reported receiving death threats, which the university did not investigate, and an anonymous complaint that a Jewish student’s home was egged and smeared with feces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Cincinnati said in a statement it will review its policies and previously filed complaints, and take steps \u201cto practively enhance ongoing efforts to prevent discrimination and harassment.\u201d The university said it investigated the complaint of vandalism at the Jewish student’s home, which was made directly to the federal office, but found no reports or evidence of the incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UCLA\u2019s handling of dispersing its encampment<\/a> in the spring drew widespread criticism. Chaos erupted after hundreds of protesters defied orders from campus police to leave the encampment. One night, counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones and firing pepper spray, with fighting that continued for hours before police stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The investigation into UCLA stemmed partly from concerns of compliance related to about 150 reports the school received about rallies in October and November 2023 as well as a pro-Palestinian encampment in the spring, the department said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf particular concern were reports of violence against students of Jewish ancestry \u2026 and of a violent assault by counter-protesters on pro-Palestinian protesters\u201d at the encampment, the department said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At rallies, protesters chanted \u201cdeath to Israel\u201d and \u201cno peace until they\u2019re dead,\u201d the department said. At the encampment, protesters maintained checkpoints that excluded Jewish students from the protest area and parts of the campus, prompting the school\u2019s chancellor to issue a statement saying Jewish students on campus, among others, felt \u201ca state of anxiety and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslim and Palestinian students experienced \u201cunwanted filming, doxing, and being followed\u201d on or near the UCLA campus, the department said. A task force report cited by the department said counter-protesters heckled people inside the encampment, saying things like, \u201cyou\u2019re a jihadist,\u201d and \u201cyou\u2019re a terrorist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four other UC campuses also had \u201cwidely reported incidents\u201d of alleged harassment against students, the civil rights office said. UC Santa Barbara was notified of antisemitic vandalism at a dorm and signs posted at a student center that targeted Jewish students by name; UC San Diego and UC Davis also received complaints about students experiencing or witnessing antisemitic comments or actions by students and professors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

abcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it has reached an agreement with the University of California system resolving complaints from Jewish and Muslim students of discrimination and harassment during protests last spring over the war in Gaza. The department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights said it investigated nine complaints against University of California schools in Los Angeles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1154],"tags":[23259,3160,2109],"class_list":["post-36177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-campus","tag-discrimination","tag-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36179,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36177\/revisions\/36179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}