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The U.S. Department of Education is investigating UMass Amherst over alleged ‘antisemitic activity’
The DOE launched an investigation into the University of Massachusetts Amherst and three other universities.
Less than two weeks after warning 60 colleges of “potential enforcement actions” should they fail to protect Jewish students on campus, the Department of Education has launched an investigation into the University of Massachusetts Amherst and three other universities over allegations of “antisemitic activity.”
The department’s Office for Civil Rights recently sent a letter to UMass Amherst, American University, Scripps College, and Yale University, for alleged discrimination involving shared ancestry under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, according to a press release from The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
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The Brandeis Center and the Anti-Defamation League, two groups that advocate for Jewish civil and human rights, filed a complaint against UMass Amherst on April 30, 2024, following a student attacking another student who is Jewish.
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On Nov. 3, 2023, the Jewish student attended a Hillel event to honor the hostages in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. He was called a “Zionist s***bag” and repeatedly punched and kicked by the second student, according to the complaint.
“While UMassAmherst was quick to condemn the attack, it did little beyond that,” the April 30 complaint wrote. “Instead, it spent nearly six months ignoring the incident, despite requests from the victim to address the matter.”
In a statement, UMass Amherst wrote that the “alleged assailant was immediately arrested by the University of Massachusetts Police Department and barred from campus and is no longer enrolled at UMass Amherst.”
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“The University of Massachusetts Amherst does not tolerate discrimination based on national origin,” the university wrote in a statement. “Additionally, the university has condemned hatred in all forms, including antisemitism.”
UMass Amherst wrote in the statement that any individual or organization can file a complaint with OCR and that the office is obligated to review every complaint it receives. It added that it will “cooperate fully” with the OCR investigation.
The Yale complaint alleges that Jewish students were pushed and threatened while moving around campus. The American complaint alleges that the university was aware of a hostile environment for Jewish students and ignored it, and in some cases retaliated against Jewish whistleblowers. The Scripps complaint alleges that the university “abandoned” Jewish students when they faced harassment.
Prior to sending notice of this investigation, on March 10, OCR sent letters to 60 universities — including UMass Amherst and five other Massachusetts colleges — informing them of their legal obligation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and that there may be “potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations,” according to a DOE press release.
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