The Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, in partnership with other Jewish groups, filed federal complaints against three California schools on March 6 alleging that the schools failed to adequately address antisemitic incidents on their campuses.
The three schools are Scripps College (which is part of the Claremont Colleges consortium), Cal Poly Humboldt and the Etiwanda School District. The complaints, filed to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, alleged that the three schools violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act for ignoring “severe antisemitic harassment and discrimination,” according to a press release.
The complaint against Scripps, which the Brandeis Center filed in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, alleges that one anonymous student, who is not Jewish, was subjected to antisemitic comments because she wears a Star of David, an Israeli pin, and regularly attends Hillel and Chabad events. Some of the comments she has been purportedly subjected to include being told that it’s “immoral” for her to go to those events “because Jewish people support Israel” and that Jews are “rich and control the media.” She also has lost friends over going to those dinners. When the student emailed the college about the antisemitism she experienced, a meeting was arranged with two administrators, but no action was taken, per the complaint. Another student allegedly resigned from her place of employment, which is redacted from the complaint, because she was afraid of being targeted over her Zionist identity. When a professor reported her resignation and kept her anonymous, an assistant vice president in Human Capital/Risk Management said that an investigation could be conducted if the student were to come forward, but ultimately nothing was done.
The complaint also discusses the college’s decision to temporarily close The Motley Coffeehouse, a student-run café owned by the college. The complaint alleges that the café’s student staff hung a Palestinian flag on the wall, but requests to hang an Israeli flag on the wall were ignored. Additionally, the complaint states that the café closed itself off to everyone but the Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter to mourn Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024. But staff allegedly ignored a request for their space to be used to commemorate Jewish suffering. The college repeatedly requested that the coffeehouse agree to an “open call” of submissions from the community to address concerns that not all students’ identities were being represented; the coffeehouse never agreed to the request.
Subsequently, Scripps closed down the coffeehouse on Oct. 5, but provided vague rationale as to why. The result, according to the complaint, was that antisemitic conspiracy theories permeated throughout the school, blaming pressure from Zionists or Jewish donors. When the college reopened the Motley, there was no condemnation of these antisemitic conspiracy theories, only an acknowledgement that there were “differing perspectives” on why it was closed.
The complaint also noted that when anti-Israel protesters occupied Carnegie Hall on the Pomona College campus on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, not only did Scripps not announce any punishments of their students who were involved, they supported their students’ appeals against Pomona banning them from the Pomona campus. Some Jewish students skipped classes on the anniversary because they were afraid of being outed as Zionists if they followed anti-Israel protesters in their planned walkout that day.
The complaint against Cal Poly Humboldt, which the Brandeis Center filed in conjunction with Jewish on Campus, centers around antisemitic incidents targeting the university’s Chabad chapter. The complaint details how at a September club fair on campus, a student shouted that the Jewish students were “baby killers, genocide supporters and land stealers; the student grabbed items off the table and blocked other students from approaching the table with his intimidating rhetoric and by placing his body in front of the table. The perpetrator also inserted himself physically between the rabbi and students who were engaged in discussion, thereby blocking further conversation.” When a student reported the incident to the Dean of Students and the Associate Dean of Students, both of whom were at the fair, the latter individual allegedly “told the Jewish students that they should leave the fair, thereby depriving them of the same educational opportunities as other students and student clubs to participate in and enjoy the fair.”
“Upon information and belief, the university failed to discipline the perpetrator,” the complaint states. “Instead, it issued a two-way no-contact order between the Jewish students at the table and the perpetrator, thereby sending a message that the Jewish students were also to blame. The university took no further action to protect Jewish students and prevent antisemitic harassment from recurring; as a result, antisemitic incidents at Cal Poly continued and escalated in severity.”
On the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, the Chabad chapter set up a table to commemorate the anniversary; in response, anti-Israel students purportedly drew a circle around the table in chalk and called it the “Zio Corner,” referencing an antisemitic slur popularized by David Duke. Some of the anti-Israel students also threw red paint at the table; one them hit two Jewish students with a red substance. Jewish students implored administrators to call the police, but were allegedly rebuffed. Campus police also allegedly refused to come when they were called.
Additionally, on Oct. 16, the etrog was stolen from the Chabad’s sukkah. When it was reported to the Dean of the Students, the dean allegedly replied that the sukkah should be taken down every night to preemptively stop other thefts from occurring. The next day, anti-Israel students held a teach-in close to the sukkah on “Palestinian resistance,” featuring a pro-Hamas speaker who referred to the Oct. 7 massacre as “resistance” and “anti-colonial struggle.”
“The event included anti-Semitic speeches that were broadcast with amplified sound, in violation of University policy on time, place and manner restrictions,” the complaint states. “During the event, participants taunted Jewish students by chalking inflammatory antisemitic messages near the Sukkah, including ‘Go away Nazis,’ ‘Death to America,’ and ‘Zionists are all homophobes.’” The complaint adds that “at least five administrators, including the Dean and Associate Dean of Students, were present at this “teach-in,” but they failed to take any action to enforce school policies against amplification and chalking in unapproved locations.”
The complaint regarding the Etiwanda district, which the Brandeis Center filed in conjunction with the ADL and StandWithUs, involves a Jewish student in the seventh grade at Etiwanda Intermediate School being allegedly bullied, harassed and discriminated against by other students. According to the complaint, the Jewish student, who wore a Star of David necklace, had attempted to move a praying mantis in September that scared the other students, when another student tried to hit the insect with a stick while it was cupped in her hands. The student then began spinning with her arms outstretched toward the Jewish student, hitting her multiple times. After staff at the school told the student to stop hitting her, the student then told the Jewish student to “shut your stupid Jewish a— up.” The Jewish student proceeded to use her leg to try get the student away from her, only to have the other student start choking her and pinned her against a table. The Jewish student was able to push the other student, but her face was red and was coughing profusely.
The Jewish student’s alleged attacker was not suspended by the district, nor was the incident classified as a hate incident.
The following month, the Jewish student was assigned to a group to perform a skit in class; the skit was scheduled to be performed on Rosh Hashanah, so the Jewish student was excused from class that day and completed a written packet instead of performing of the skit. The group did not perform the skit that day. When the Jewish student informed the group that she would not have to perform the skit, another student replied: “This wouldn’t be an issue if you weren’t Jewish.” Separately, a different student asked if the Jewish student was in fact in Jewish, and when she affirmed that, the student insisted that she hear a Hitler joke despite her protestations. The school’s response: the teacher moved the Jewish student to a different seat, resulting in her being even more isolated from her classmates.
“While an increasing number of schools recognize that their Jewish students are being targeted both for their religious beliefs and due to their ancestral connection to Israel, and are taking necessary steps to address both classic and contemporary forms of antisemitism, some shamefully continue to turn a blind eye,” Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus said in a statement. “The law and federal government recognize Jews share a common faith and they are a people with a shared history and heritage rooted in the land of Israel. Schools that continue to ignore either aspect of Jewish identity are becoming dangerous breeding grounds for escalating anti-Jewish bigotry, and they must be held accountable.”
ADL Vice President of National Litigation James Pasch said in a statement, “ADL and our partners will not sit idly by as Jewish students are attacked for their identity – from our college campuses to our K-12 schools, our educational institutions have an obligation to protect their Jewish students and ensure that all its students receive an education free of harassment and discrimination. Students and parents continue to reach out to ADL, Brandeis and StandWithUs through our expanded K-12 helpline, and we will continue to use administrative filings and the courts to ensure the safety of all Jewish students.”
“Too many of our nation’s young minds are being corrupted by the disease of antisemitism,” StandWithUs CEO and Co-Founder Roz Rothstein said in a statement. “It is the duty of K-12 educators and administrators to provide the necessary education to inoculate them — not indoctrinate them. As long as students continue to find themselves on the receiving end of anti-Jewish hate and bigotry from their peers or teachers, and their appeals to administration continue to fall on deaf ears, we will continue to show up and support them in holding their schools accountable.”
“Too many of our nation’s young minds are being corrupted by the disease of antisemitism … It is the duty of K-12 educators and administrators to provide the necessary education to inoculate them — not indoctrinate them.” – Roz Rothstein
A spokesperson from Cal Poly Humboldt told The Journal that the university “is reviewing the federal complaint and will, of course, fully cooperate with the Office of Civil Rights in any investigation. Hatred or discrimination in any form, including anti-semitism, is contrary to our core values. The University unequivocally condemns all acts of hatred, bigotry, and violence, and we are committed to keeping safe our students, staff, and faculty of all religions. We will continue to work together to foster a learning and working environment where we can all feel safe, included, and respected.”
Scripps College and the Etiwanda district did not immediately respond to The Journal’s requests for comment.
UPDATE: Charlayne Sprague, superintendent of the Etiwanda district, told The Journal in a March 7 email: “We take our duty and obligation to provide all our students with a safe and welcoming learning environment very seriously. While we have yet to receive the letter from the Brandeis Center and cannot discuss any specific instances involving students by federal and state law, we can state that the Etiwanda School District, its dedicated teachers, and trained staff do not tolerate antisemitism or racism in any form. We also condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms. Etiwanda is committed to taking all necessary actions, including discipline where appropriate, to address and ameliorate discrimination and harassment based on actual or perceived Jewish shared ancestry or ethnicity. Anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, and targeting of Jewish students because of their Jewish ancestral and ethnic identity is contrary to Etiwanda’s institutional values and nondiscrimination and conduct codes and is unacceptable.
“We have instituted policies to thoroughly investigate all claims of hostile acts and take appropriate action. We uphold these practices to maintain the core values of civility and dignity for everyone on every campus.”
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