In January, the Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into whether Brown’s administration failed to respond to incidents of alleged harassment against students with Jewish ancestry, which could have violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, according to a letter from the office to Brown President Christina Paxson.
Title VI bars discrimination, exclusion, or denial of benefits based “on the ground of race, color, or national origin” by any institution receiving federal funds. In its investigation, the office also reviewed allegations of “harassment of students based on national origin on other bases, specifically shared Palestinian, Arab and/or Muslim ancestry,” according to the letter.
More than 55 Title VI complaints alleging discrimination based on shared ancestry have been filed against colleges nationally since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel led to the subsequent war in the Gaza Strip — pouring in at a much quicker rate than before the war. Brown’s is among the first to be resolved.
The complaint against Brown was filed by Zachary Marschall, the editor of Campus Reform, a conservative news organization focused on universities, according to the statement from Brown and an article on the outlet’s website.
Campus Reform has filed several lawsuits alleging antisemitism, arguing that schools — including the University of Massachusetts Amherst — failed to protect students of Jewish heritage following the Oct. 7 attack.
Representatives of Campus Reform and its parent organization, the Leadership Institute, did not reply to requests for comment Monday afternoon.
A similar investigation into Harvard University, launched in November, no longer appears on the Office for Civil Rights’ list of active investigations. That complaint alleged the school “discriminated against students on the basis of their national origin (shared Jewish ancestry and/or Israeli) when it failed to respond appropriately to reports of incidents of harassment,” the Globe previously reported.
Justin Newton, a Harvard spokesperson, referred questions about the case to the Department of Education. A department spokesperson said in a statement that the investigation was suspended after a complaint was filed in federal court over the same allegations, “and the relief sought is the same as would be obtained if OCR were to find a violation regarding the allegation(s).”
A pair of task forces charged by Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber, with combatting antisemitism and discrimination against Muslim and Arab students, released recommendations in late June. Both groups reported frequent discrimination based on students’ personal identity and political views, the student-run Harvard Crimson reported.
In its resolution, Brown agreed to clarify timelines and reporting requirements in cases of alleged harassment and to add a statement to its protest policy clarifying that it must be applied equitably and in a manner consistent with Title VI. Brown also agreed to continue with a previously planned annual nondiscrimination training for all students and employees, which will begin during the next academic year.
Under the agreement, Brown must submit to OCR lists of all complaints and reports received by its Office of Equity Compliance and Reporting that allege discrimination based on national origin. Those reports are due in September 2024 and September 2025, and must cover the prior academic year.
The school must also complete an assessment of the campus climate and send it, alongside any recommended changes to policies and practices, to OCR by the end of the fall 2024 semester.
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Daniel Kool can be reached at daniel.kool@globe.com. Follow him @dekool01.