CUNY has entered right into a settlement settlement with the US Division of Schooling to resolve 9 discrimination complaints alleging antisemitism, Islamophobia and different harassment — many occurring properly earlier than the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas assault on Israel.
Beneath the Monday settlement — which additionally cites alleged civil rights violations by the central workplace — the Metropolis College of New York agreed to extra aggressively confront anti-Jewish hatred and different bigotry on its campuses by extra intensive coaching, surveys, and higher probes and reporting of discrimination.
“The CUNY settlement is a step in the suitable course because it acknowledges that CUNY did not adequately deal with the issue and units up federal monitoring and oversight,” mentioned Alyza D. Lewin, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Middle for Human Rights Beneath Legislation, which represented college students within the Brooklyn Faculty case.
“It’s a far cry, nonetheless, from an ‘all clear’ for CUNY. The satan will likely be within the particulars. We’re desirous to see what particular steps CUNY will take to actively deal with the anti-Semitism that has run rampant on their campuses for much too lengthy,” Lewin mentioned in a press release.
At Brooklyn Faculty, white and Jewish college students within the Graduate Program for Psychological Well being Counseling instructed of being bullied — and deemed “privileged” — within the fall of 2020.
When a pupil complained, the deputy director of this system allegedly mentioned white college students ought to “maintain quiet” and “maintain their heads down.”
Amongst the opposite complaints cited by the federal DOE’s Workplace of Civil Rights at different CUNY faculties, together with Hunter, Baruch and Queens Schools and the Faculty of Legislation have been:
- College students and professors hijacked two Zoom classes of a Hunter Faculty course in 2021 by studying a press release calling for the decolonization of Palestine whereas demonizing Israel. A number of college students wrote within the Zoom chat that they have been scared. “OCR discovered that Hunter concluded—with out interviewing college students current in the course of the classes—that the disruption didn’t deny entry to training, and that Hunter didn’t reply to requests from Jewish college students to study Hunter’s response,” the division mentioned in a letter despatched Monday to CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez.
- A videotaped incident in 2020 of CUNY Legislation Faculty pupil holding a lighter flame near a sweatshirt bearing the logo of the Israel Protection Forces, claiming she was going to set it on fireplace. The complainant alleged that the incident constituted antisemitic harassment, and that the incident and the Legislation Faculty’s response to it have been insufficient. The Legislation Faculty mentioned it by no means obtained a proper criticism the incident, which occurred off-campus and due to this fact the scholar was not disciplined.
- Professional-Palestinian college students alleged discrimination after the Legislation Faculty cancelled a Muslim Legislation Pupil Affiliation occasion titled “Combating Complicity Towards Genocide” on Nov.15, 2023. The Legislation Faculty — which is being sued by pro-Palestinian college students for nixing commencement audio system after years of hate-spewing messages — cancelled the occasion for not having sufficient time to handle security issues.
- At Queens Faculty, Muslim college students claimed they have been verbally harassed and referred to as names, reminiscent of “ISIS” and “terrorists” throughout pro-Palestinian protests in fall 2023, and and one was harassed for carrying a keffiyeh on campus. Jewish college students additionally complained of being subjected to slurs at pro-Israel rallies.
- Within the spring of 2022, a Baruch Faculty pupil alleged harassment after listening to slurs reminiscent of “f—ing Jew,” or “f—ing Jew who doesn’t wish to put on a masks.” “Baruch didn’t present to OCR data relating to complaints of nationwide origin harassment (together with shared Jewish ancestry) in the course of the spring 2022 semester,” the division mentioned.
The letter cited testimony of Jewish college students and professors at a 2022 Metropolis Council listening to, saying that they had been focused with antisemitic slurs, together with requires the homicide of Jews.
Rachel Pomerantz, the regional director of the OCR, mentioned anti-discrimination insurance policies at CUNY campuses will not be uniformly enforced.
“OCR recognized issues that exact constituent campuses, reminiscent of Hunter, the Legislation Faculty, and Brooklyn seem to not have taken enough motion in response to the existence of a doubtlessly hostile atmosphere, as evidenced by the persisting and typically escalating incidents,” Pomerantz mentioned.
“For instance, OCR is worried that Brooklyn seems to not have both promptly or successfully responded to studies and incidents of discrimination, together with harassment of scholars, primarily based on race and shared ancestry.”
As a part of the settlement, CUNY has agreed to conduct a system-wide campus local weather survey in any respect 25 campuses to assist deal with bigotry and harassment.
The college additionally agreed to offer coaching for brand spanking new hires, together with campus chief range officers and compliance and campus security officers.
Three faculties — CUNY Legislation, Hunter Faculty and Brooklyn Faculty) will reinvestigate 4 incidents courting again to 2019-21.
“CUNY is dedicated to offering an atmosphere that’s free from discrimination and hate and these new steps will guarantee that there’s consistency and transparency in how complaints are investigated and resolved,” mentioned CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez.
CUNY board of trustees chairman Invoice Thompson mentioned CUNY “believes within the dignity of all human beings and stands united in opposition to bigotry or hate of any type on our campuses.”
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