U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Announces Resolution of Nine Complaints Against CUNY Alleging Discrimination Based on National Origin, Including Antisemitic, Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Arab Harassment

By India Education Diary Bureau Admin On Jun 21, 2024

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today announced the resolution of all nine pending complaints against the City University of New York (CUNY), the CUNY Central Office (Central Office), and the following CUNY colleges and schools: Hunter College (Hunter), CUNY School of Law (the Law School), Brooklyn College (Brooklyn), Queens College (Queens), and Baruch College (Baruch). This resolution addresses discrimination concerns in CUNY schools from academic year 2019-2020 forward.

OCR has been investigating whether the university and/or Hunter College, Brooklyn College, the School of Law, and Baruch were on notice of and failed to respond promptly or effectively to alleged discrimination and antisemitic harassment by employees and students at the colleges and schools, creating a hostile environment for students of Jewish ancestry since academic year 2019-2020.

In addition, OCR has been investigating whether the university and/or Hunter College, the School of Law, and Queens have discriminated against students on the basis of their actual or perceived national origin/ancestry, including shared Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and/or South Asian ancestry and their association with these national origins/ancestries) since October 2023.

Because OCR identified concerns regarding systemwide fulfillment of CUNY’s federal nondiscrimination obligations, CUNY committed to resolve all nine complaints to ensure every one of the 25 CUNY campuses protects all students against shared ancestry discrimination that violates Title VI without further delay.

The complaints this agreement resolves include:

Hunter: Two cases, one alleging harassment of students based on national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) in academic year 2020-2021; and the other alleging harassment and disparate treatment of students based on actual or perceived national origin/ethnicity (including shared Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and/or South Asian ancestry and association with these national origins/shared ancestries) since October 2023.
Brooklyn: One case alleging harassment of students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) and actual or perceived race/color in fall 2020.
The Law School: Three cases, two alleging harassment of students based on national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) during academic years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021; and another alleging harassment and disparate treatment of students based on actual or perceived national origin/ethnicity (including shared Palestinian, Arab, and/or Muslim ancestry and association with these national origins/shared ancestries) since October 2023.
Queens: One case, alleging harassment and disparate treatment of students based on actual or perceived national origin/ethnicity (including shared Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and/or South Asian ancestry and association with these national origins/shared ancestries) since October 2023.
Baruch: One case, alleging, among other things, harassment of students based on their national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) during spring 2022.
Central Office: One case, alleging harassment of students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) across the university’s constituent colleges and schools since academic year 2020-2021.

With respect to the earliest filed complaint against Hunter, OCR’s investigation confirmed that students and faculty disrupted two different sessions of a required college course in 2021 by commandeering the scheduled course discussion to use the class time to call for the decolonization of Palestine. Several students expressed that the disruption made them fearful and at least one student left class early. A Jewish student testified that when Jewish students spoke or tried to speak, others told them they should be listening, not speaking.

OCR’s investigation also confirmed that Hunter concluded – without interviewing any students who were present during the Zoom sessions – that the class disruption did not deny access to education at Hunter. OCR determined that Hunter could not have adequately evaluated what occurred in the sessions and whether it created a hostile environment for Jewish students without interviewing affected students.

OCR’s investigation also yielded no evidence that Hunter took any action to communicate to affected students the results of its investigation or that it took actions to redress any hostile environment students may have experienced.

In addition to the concerns OCR’s investigation to date had raised regarding Hunter, OCR identified compliance concerns that specific CUNY colleges and schools appear not to have conducted adequate investigations in response to reports of alleged harassment based on national origin/shared ancestry, may treat students differently based on their national origin/shared ancestry with respect to implementation of policies and procedures governing student conduct and events on campus, may not have taken steps reasonably designed to redress existing hostile environments, and in some circumstances may not have considered whether the alleged conduct subjected students to possible hostile environments at all.

Based on these related compliance concerns regarding several of CUNY’s constituent campuses, CUNY entered into a CUNY-wide agreement to ensure that CUNY and each of its 25 constituent colleges and schools fulfill their Title VI responsibilities when responding to discrimination, including harassment, based on national origin/shared ancestry.

In the resolution agreement, CUNY has committed to:

Reopen or initiate investigations of complaints and reports alleging discrimination, including harassment, on the basis of national origin, including shared Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and/or South Asian ancestry, or association with these national origins/shared ancestries.
For each investigation, provide OCR with the results of the investigation, and for each finding of a hostile environment created by harassment based on national origin/shared ancestry, report to OCR any remedial action to be taken by CUNY, including actions to remedy the effects of the environment and prevent recurrence.
Provide training to employees responsible for investigating complaints and other reports of discrimination, including harassment, based on national origin/shared ancestry or association with the national origin/shared ancestry, to ensure thorough and impartial investigations, including that the investigators know how to identify relevant witnesses to interview and how to conduct interviews about such harassment and whether it created a hostile educational environment.
Provide training for campus peace officers on CUNY’s Title VI obligations not to discriminate based on national origin, including shared ancestry, how to engage effectively with CUNY students and the campus community, and how to ensure accurate collection and reporting of complaints and other information regarding interactions between public safety officers and students, as required by Title VI.
Ensure that each of CUNY’s 25 constituent colleges and schools administers at least one climate survey to students no later than September 30, 2024. And,
Continue the third-party reviews currently being conducted of CUNY’s nondiscrimination and antisemitism policies, at the direction and request of New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, and the other by an advocacy group.

“Everyone has a right to learn in an environment free from discriminatory harassment based on who they are,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon. “In fully executing the important commitments announced today, the City University of New York will ensure that its students may learn in the nondiscriminatory environment federal law promises to them and that each CUNY school fulfills its Title VI obligation to evaluate the facts needed to protect all students’ nondiscrimination rights.”