U. hit with 57-page Title VI complaint citing discrimination against Palestinian, Muslim, Arab communities
A 57-page Title VI complaint alleging discrimination against Palestinian, Muslim and Arab students and faculty at Rutgers Law School—Newark and Rutgers—New Brunswick was filed by the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ) and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) on Tuesday, according to a press release by CAIR-NJ.
Directed at the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the complaint reports violations of the DOE's Title VI in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and calls upon the OCR to initiate investigations into the claims. This section of the act forbids discrimination on the basis of race, complexion or nation of origin in programs receiving federal funding, including Rutgers.
"The allegations in this complaint reflect an ongoing pattern and practice of direct and indirect discrimination by Rutgers, as well as Rutgers' deliberate indifference to a hostile learning environment on its campuses for students who hold, are perceived to hold or are affiliated or associated with Palestinian identity," the complaint read.
The complaint contains 294 points of information around instances of anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab discrimination beginning Oct. 7, 2023. The incidents were compiled by members of the Muslim Law Students Association (MLSA) and the student chapter of the National Lawyers Guild of Rutgers Law School—Newark (NLG).
It begins with claims against verbiage in emails sent out by University President Jonathan Holloway and Rutgers Law School Dean Johanna Bond. The former was criticized for "one-sided" communications in the week following Oct. 7, 2023. The latter faced disapproval for a message that did not reference Israel, Palestine, Gaza or the people in those territories.
The complaint then details cases of discriminatory student-to-student interactions, doxxing, unequal or nonexistent reactions by University officials regarding discrimination claims and other bias reports from the past six months.
One incident depicts a group chat discussion about doxxing a Palestinian individual involving the group Canary Mission, a group that reportedly posts images and information of individuals who criticize the government of Israel. One individual involved in this case reported being unable to exit their residence and consequently missing an exam out of concern.
A different situation involves one student who reportedly made eye contact with and accelerated a vehicle in the direction of a Palestinian student. The complaint indicates that there has been no hearing regarding this incident.
Another report says a student received verbal threats of bodily harm after removing a poster labeled "Kidnapped" on Oct. 25, 2023. The Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) responded to the situation, and the student filed a report.
An additional case involved RUPD personnel removing a memorial created by the NLG for Palestinian people who have died in Gaza, with a security guard that night reporting the placement of the memorial, which was labeled as a "suspicious incident." The report alleges that the RUPD did not respond in the same way to members of student organizations who installed similar pieces prior to the incident.
After three removals of the display, the NLG and MLSA held a tabling setup instead. Afterward, somebody allegedly put up posters that indicated Palestinian support for Hamas and contained the phrase "dirty savage," which was reportedly not removed for the remainder of the day.
The University declined to respond to The Daily Targum's questions about the alleged lack of response to some reports in the document and reasons for replying to one report before another.
"When bias incidents are reported, we investigate them fully and take appropriate action, including working with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies when situations warrant to pursue thorough investigations and ensure the safety of Rutgers community members," a University spokesperson said.
The complaint ends with 10 courses of action following the conclusion of the investigation, such as statements of accountability from Holloway and Bond, rectification for students whose schoolwork, employment or housing was negatively impacted by the events outlined in the complaint, the establishment and allocation of resources specific to Palestinian, Muslim and Arab University community members and the creation of task forces to address doxxing, discrimination and free speech.
"Rutgers University has allowed a patently hostile and unsafe climate to relegate its Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students to a second-class status, denying them their right to an education free of harassment and discrimination," Chris Godshall-Bennett, an ADC staff attorney, said in the release. "We expect the Department of Education to take these claims seriously and fully investigate this pattern and practice of discrimination."
