Cases & Developments

Resolution Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Emory University resolving a complaint that the latter responded inadequately to discrimination based on shared Palestinian, Muslim, and/or Arab ancestry and/or race. The associated Resolution Letter noted that OCR joined the University’s President in expressing concern with the “gratuitous violence of … law enforcement” seen through publicized videos of arrests during the April 2024 protests, which may have created a hostile environment for Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim university members. OCR expressed concerns regarding potential ambiguity in the University’s publicly available policies and procedures on reporting discrimination and noted that clarification could support compliance with the requirements of Title VI. The Agreement sets forth the University’s commitment to: (1) revise its nondiscrimination policies and procedures; (2) conduct annual training for all students, employees, investigators, and campus law enforcement; (3) engage in file reviews; (4) administer a climate survey; and (5) report out regarding training, assessment, and reviews. 

Resolution Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the University of Washington resolving a complaint that the latter responded inadequately to discrimination based on shared Jewish ancestry. The associated Resolution Letter stated that OCR reviewed approximately 140 reports of alleged shared ancestry discrimination or harassment that were submitted to the University during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years. OCR noted that the University took several steps to address incidents, which otherwise may have created a hostile environment based on shared ancestry on campus, including statements from University leadership with attached resources, meeting with students, as well as creating multiple task forces and holding several focus groups. Notwithstanding, OCR concluded that the University could have taken additional steps to assess and address incidents of a potential hostile environment on campus, as existent University responses were not necessarily designed to fully remedy any existing hostile environments resulting from shared ancestry-based harassment. The Agreement set forth the University’s commitment to: (1) review and update policies and procedures; (2) provide training to investigators, staff, and students; (3) conduct a climate assessment; (4) engage in file reviews; and (5) report out regarding training, assessment, and reviews. 

Resolution Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), resolving a complaint that alleged the University failed to respond promptly or effectively to alleged harassment based on shared Jewish ancestry in 2018. During a Students for Justice in Palestine conference on the University’s campus, students expressed concern related to potential harassment, before, during, and after the conference. Following its investigation, OCR concluded that the University’s response to the alleged harassment did not violate federal civil rights requirements. Specifically, OCR found the University took timely, reasonable, and effective steps to address student concerns by (1) working to align time, place, and manner restrictions while permitting the conference to be a private event; (2) working with students and campus security prioritizing safety; (3) providing students the opportunity to present counter-messaging before and during the conference; (4) ensuring University administrators were present and accessible throughout the conference and afterwards; (5) widely publicizing how to file a complaint with the University regarding harassment; and (6) publishing an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times from the University Chancellor warning of the dangers of antisemitic forms of anti-Zionism. 

Resolution Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Lehigh University resolving a complaint that the latter responded inadequately to alleged discrimination based on shared Jewish ancestry. The associated Resolution Letter noted that OCR was concerned that the University had not evaluated whether individual incidents of alleged harassment or aggregate incidents of alleged harassment that occurred during the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 academic years contributed to a hostile environment for students based on shared ancestry. OCR noted the important steps taken by the University to fulfill its Title VI obligations with respect to shared ancestry through coordinated events and programs, as well as communication from University leadership. The Agreement set forth the University’s commitment to: (1) revise its nondiscrimination policies and procedures; (2) conduct annual training for all employees, staff, and students; (3) engage in file reviews; (4) administer a climate survey; and (5) report out regarding training, assessment, and reviews. 

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a new resource titled “Resolving a Hostile Environment Under Title VI: Discrimination Based on Race, Color, or National Origin, Including Shared Ancestry or Ethnic Characteristics.” The Resource is intended to help school communities in understanding their obligations under Title VI, explores considerations for schools to take into account when taking action to resolve a hostile environment, and provides numerous examples of former Resolution Letters and Resolution Agreements.