Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened investigations into San Jose State University (SJSU) and San Francisco State University (SFSU) amid allegations that the schools permit and perpetuate antisemitic harassment against students on campus. OCR will determine if the universities violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI).
OCR received complaints that Jewish students were subjected to hostile environments on the campuses of both universities. SJSU students have allegedly been threatened, shunned, and made to feel unwelcome in classrooms because of their Jewish ancestry. Reports of anti-Israel protests disrupting classes and displacing students and staff, as well as physical attacks on Jewish students, have increased since the October 7th terrorist attack in Israel. One email from SJSU’s Vice President for Student Affairs and Former Interim Chief Diversity Officer purportedly made the distinction between “good Jews” and “bad Jews” based on their support of the Israeli government.
Complaints sent to OCR allege that SFSU faculty members have used their positions of authority to create a hostile environment for Jewish students. OCR has been notified of antisemitic graffiti on campus, attempted break-ins targeting Jewish students, and events featuring extremists with terrorist group ties hosted by the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas program. Jewish students have described their campus as an environment of “intimidation, exclusion, and fear,” a perception reinforced by the General Union of Palestine Students, a branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization-which Congress has designated as a terrorist organization-maintaining its last remaining student chapter at SFSU.
Both SJSU and SFSU have reportedly failed to acknowledge or meaningfully respond to cases of antisemitic harassment on campus, seeming, in some instances, even to condone such abhorrent acts.
“Discrimination has no place on college campuses. The same California leaders who wax eloquent about their commitment to ‘equity’ and ‘social justice’ appear to turn their backs on violent, harmful acts of antisemitic intimidation and harassment,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey. “We will investigate these allegations, ensure the safety of Jewish students, and protect the right of every student in America to an education free from discrimination.”
Background
Earlier this year, OCR found SJSU in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) for allowing males to compete in women’s sports and access female-only facilities, denying women equal educational opportunities and benefits. SJSU’s ongoing refusal to comply with federal law resulted in a Letter of Impending Enforcement Action, which notified the University that they are at risk of losing federal funding.
On January 29, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism, stating that it is “the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools.”
Title VI and its implementing regulations prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in educational programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.