Department of Education criticizes Brown University for taking “little or no action” on anti-Semitism complaints

A federal civil rights investigation into reports of anti-Semitism at Brown University since Oct. 7 concluded Monday with criticism of the Ivy League university’s lack of response to its Jewish students amid a nationwide rise in anti-Semitism on campuses.

In addition, the school did not adequately respond to complaints about anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim harassment, the U.S. Department of Education said.

The investigation into Brown was originally launched in January when a complaint from a Jewish legal activist with no connection to the universityHowever, the final report cites a total of 75 cases of alleged anti-Semitic, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim harassment between October and March. The school did not properly handle these complaints and needs to revise its approach in this regard, investigators said.

“The university appears to have taken little or no action in response other than acknowledging receipt of the reports, listing supportive resources, and requesting a meeting with the complainant, consistent with its then-current policies,” the department said in a statement.

The investigation was one of Dozens of Title VI cases opened by the Department’s Office of Civil Rights in the wake of October 7and was one of the first elite schools to officially graduate. This happened while other prominent schools, including Harvard And Stanfordhave published internal reports highlighting their own failures in responding to anti-Semitism.

A letter from OCR attorney Paul Easton to Brown Jewish President Christina Paxson details some of the complaints filed against the university. They included threats of violence against the university’s Hillel leaders, comments such as “Zionist pig Jew” against Jewish students, and death threats against Jewish students on social media. More than half of these complaints came from students, not third parties. OCR allows anyone to file complaints, including people with no connection to the university.

As part of the agreement with the Department of Education, Brown will continue to revise its policies on discrimination and harassment, including how it will handle protests – a much-discussed area of ​​concern for Jews and free speech advocates as pro-Palestinian demonstrations have flooded campuses this academic year. (Almost Two dozen members of the progressive group Jews for Ceasefire Now were arrested at a Brown protest in the fall.) The company also commits to providing new training on discrimination and harassment for its employees and to further review its anti-discrimination policies over the next year.

Despite its criticism, the Education Department praised Brown’s response to the investigation. “I commend Brown University for assessing its own campus climate and initiating appropriate reforms to comply with Title VI, in addition to the conditions it is required to meet today in response to OCR’s investigation,” Catherine Lhamon, the department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement.

Still, the department expressed “concern” that Brown stopped investigating complaints when the person who filed them stopped responding to emails from the administration. Schools that did so could be in violation of Title VI regulations, OCR warned. Brown changed its policy in the spring.

As in its other recent agreements, the OCR made no recommendations on how Brown should deal with pro-Palestinian activism that Jewish groups say is anti-Semitic. Nor did the report address Brown’s controversial decision this spring to sign an agreement with his pro-Palestinian campthat will allow organizers to argue for divestment from Israel at a fall meeting of the Regents. Brown was one of the first schools to make such a deal, and several others followed. Some Jewish groups have argued that the deals rewarded anti-Semitism on campuswhile others, including the chairman of Brown’s Hillel, said they helped contain the protest in a peaceful manner.

In a statement, Brown reiterated his objections to the original complaint, saying: “The complaint was filed by the publisher of online media company Campus Reform, which has no affiliation with Brown nor a presence on campus.” The school also said it had not violated Title VI and was already working on many of the changes outlined in the resolution.

“The university is pleased that the voluntary resolution with OCR underscores and reinforces Brown’s commitment to strengthening our policies, systems and operations to ensure a campus environment where students, faculty and staff are safe and supported,” Brown Administrator Russell C. Carey said in a statement.