The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is directing University of California (UC) schools to take stronger action against antisemitic behavior and harassment targeting Jewish students. Complaints of such incidents have been reported across the UC campuses, including UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and UC San Diego.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced that Lehigh University, a private school in Pennsylvania, has agreed to take action on allegations of antisemitic harassment.
Hamilton College, a highly regarded private arts college in New York where Jewish students comprise 8% of the student body, recently announced the addition of a new minor for students in Jewish Studies. The addition of the Jewish studies minor comes during a time of rising antisemitism on college campuses.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has opened an investigation into antisemitism at Sarah Lawrence College in response to a complaint filed by Hillels of Westchester that alleges Jewish students have been harassed and intimidated at the New York college both before and after October 7.
The U.S. Department of Education announced that it has resolved nine civil rights complaints made against campuses inside the University of California system, including UCLA, UC Davis, and three other UC schools. Six complaints involved harassment of Jewish and Israeli students.
Jewish Studies faculty from eight North American universities convened at Harvard to discuss the rise in antisemitism on campus. The half-day conference kicked off with a panel discussion covering a range of topics, from media coverage of anti-Israel campus protests and experiences of hostility towards Jewish and Israeli faculty and students, to defining antisemitism, distinguishing it from criticism of Israel, and ensuring a safe campus environment.