WASHINGTON — A federal civil rights complaint has been filed by Jewish students at American University (AU) claiming that the school has ignored discrimination toward them. In addition, it states that the university has harassed those who have spoken out about it.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus filed the complaint Wednesday with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on behalf of multiple students who claim AU has been aware of the hostile environment toward them, and not only ignored it, in some cases, it chose to subject Jewish whistleblowers to harassment and disciplinary proceedings.
The complaint, to name a few issues, states that dormitory doors and posters of Jewish and Israeli students were vandalized with swastikas and threats, and some anti-Israel protests were permitted to disrupt classes and block Jewish students access to dining halls, classrooms and student spaces.
In one incident, a Jewish Israeli student was repeatedly spit on by fellow students and his piano recital flyer was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas and “DEATH TO THE ZIONISTS HITLER WAS RIGHT.”
In addition, Jewish students say obscenities such as “Zionist killer,” “Zionist pig” and “You have blood on your hands,” were yelled at them. The students have also been accused of supporting “apartheid” and being “responsible for genocide.”
On one occasion, which the complaint says the professor or administration has not addressed, the AU professor devoted class time to sharing photos of pro-Palestinian protests, sharing how powerful they are for her. When one of the photos showed a sign of a Star of David in a trash can with the caption, “Keep the world clean,” the professor allegedly deliberately stared at a Jewish student in the class to the point that many of the other classmates turned around to also stare at the student.
The complaint also claims that the university took prompt action toward Islamophobia, but repeatedly ignored antisemitic discrimination and harassment that was reported to them. In addition, the university is being accused of further harassing and discriminating against several students by subjecting them to a baseless disciplinary hearing for using their phones to record people tearing down posters of Israeli hostages.
“Shamefully AU has repeatedly chosen to turn a blind eye to the antisemitism snowballing on its campus,” stated Brandeis Center founder and chairman Kenneth L. Marcus who served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights under the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. “Not only has the university failed in its legal obligation to protect Jewish students from illegal targeting and harassment, it is attempting to bully those brave enough to speak up. The university’s delinquency is reprehensible, and it only signals to the AU community there are no consequences for those who harass, threaten, assault or shun Jewish and Israeli students, emboldening those hostile to Jews even further.”
AU’s Vice President of Communication, Matt Bennett, released the following statement to WUSA9 in response to the complaint:
American University received a letter the Brandeis Center sent to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) regarding antisemitism. We have not received any complaint from OCR. We take these issues and any concerns in AU’s Jewish community seriously, and we review and address them. We will cooperate with any inquiries regarding our work to combat antisemitism.
American University supports the safety, well-being, and sense of belonging for our Jewish students, a community which has been and remains an important part of the fabric of our university. We have taken decisive action to address antisemitism, including working with the FBI on investigations, enforcing our student conduct code, incorporating antisemitism into our curriculum and inclusive excellence work, and engaging with Jewish groups including ADL and Hillel.
While we have made progress in combatting antisemitism, we know we have more work to do.
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