Washington, D.C. | www.adc.org | January 9, 2024 – After a complaint filed by ADC and CAIR-NJ last year, the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has directed Rutgers University to address probable violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ADC and CAIR-NJ alleged that Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students at Rutgers are facing unlawful discrimination and identity-based censorship. The Department of Education agreed.
OCR found that Rutgers failed to sufficiently respond to reports of discrimination made by Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students. Notably, OCR also determined that Rutgers likely violated Title VI by removing posters and memorials placed by Palestinian students to call attention to the ongoing genocide in Palestine because it selectively enforced university policies against Palestinian students. Furthermore, OCR found that Rutgers failed to protect its Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students from hostile actions by third parties, such as doxxing and harassment.
OCR also resolved complaints of antisemitic harassment made by Jewish students at Rutgers. ADC welcomes OCR intervention in legitimate complaints of such discrimination, but rejects any conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism. We demand that OCR and all other government agencies refrain from making such a conflation when addressing anti-Jewish racism.
To address these violations, OCR directed the University to review all policy and procedures to ensure compliance with Title VI; to conduct listening sessions with Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim student organizations; to submit all complaints filed by students in 2023-2024 to OCR for review; to submit all disciplinary actions taken against students and student groups in 2023-2024 to OCR for review; to train employees on discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry; to provide annual non-discrimination training for campus police; and to administer a climate assessment of the university as a whole. OCR also directed Rutgers to re-assess and redress the harm faced by a particular student who experienced anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim discrimination. Rutgers will also be required to submit an audit of its 2024-2025 disciplinary records.
ADC Legal Director Chris Godshall-Bennett said, “Title VI exists to protect all students from discrimination on the basis of their race or shared ancestry. Palestinians are not an exception to this rule. Rutgers students deserve more from their university and we welcome OCR’s intervention to ensure that their rights are respected and protected. Nevertheless, the rights of students remain under attack and the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is a threat to both free expression and the fight against real antisemitism. ADC remains committed to ensuring our students can continue to lead the charge against genocide and apartheid without unlawful interference by their schools or the government itself.”