ADL, StandWithUs, Brandeis Center File Complaint Against Ohio State

Three major Jewish organizations, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), StandWithUs and the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, filed a complaint against Ohio State University (OSU) on April 9 alleging that antisemitism has become “severe and pervasive” on the OSU campus.

The complaint was filed to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), alleging that the school is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The complaint claims that have multiple instances of Jewish students being assaulted, threatened and harassed, documenting one incident in November when two men shouted “Free Palestine” at a group of five Jewish students “just steps off-campus,” asked them if they were Jewish, and called a member of the group wearing a Chai necklace a “Zionist k—.” After the student wearing the Chai necklace confirmed they are all Jewish, “one of the two men that moments earlier was chanting ‘Free Palestine’ punched one of the Jewish students straight across the face and threw him into the street,” the complaint states. “The other individual who was chanting punched another one of the Jewish students across the face just seconds later. The two attackers, after committing a vicious antisemitic attack, fled the scene.” One of the victims suffered a broken jaw; the other, a broken nose.

When the students sought medical attention at Ohio State’s Medical Center, only the victim who was “bleeding profusely” was attended to, and the victim could only bring one guest; the rest of the group was forced to wait outside in the freezing cold for more than five hours. This experience prompted the other victim to fly “home, at considerable expense, to seek medical attention, where he learned that his face was swollen due to a fractured jaw.”

To this day, the complaint continues “months after this assault, one of the Jewish students who was violently attacked that evening has changed everything about how he approaches Jewish life and his Jewish experience on campus,” the complaint states. “The student reports that he ensures that his Chai necklace is tucked into his shirt when he is on campus so that he is not readily identifiable as a Jew. He avoids the Student Union and library so that he is not surrounded by antisemitic protests, and he is fearful of attending Chabad as he used to because he is worried about the continued targeting of Jewish institutions at OSU’s campus. In short, the student has been forced to check his Jewish identity at the gate to feel safe on his own college campus.”

Other incidents cited in the complaint include two incidents in October:   a man harassing a female Jewish student for having a “Jewish nose” and a student threatening “to kill pro-Israel students during [a] classroom discussion,” and in February “students banging on the Hillel windows and shouting, ‘Free Palestine!’” while Jewish students were eating Shabbat dinner. The complaint alleges that while the professor did remove the student who threatened to kill pro-Israel students, “that student was subsequently allowed to attend classes, having apparently faced no disciplinary action from the University.”

The complaint points to an incident in December when “two individuals approached a Jewish fraternity house early in the morning while yelling antisemitic slurs and throwing bottles at the residence.” The complaint alleges that while the university said they have a picture of the perpetrators and would investigate further, there is zero evidence to suggest the university followed through.

The university allowed the Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists (CORS) to hold an event called “Intifada, Revolution, and the Path to a Free Palestine” that featured the logo of the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on flyers promoting the event; the complaint asks why the university allowed the event to be held on campus. CORS claimed on social media that the university suspended them on Jan. 8 but they were reinstated on Jan. 31.

“Complainants request that OCR investigate whether a suspension was ever implemented against CORS,” the complaint states. “If not, Complainants request that OCR determine why OSU failed to enforce its own policies and why its spokesman claimed to OSU’s student newspaper that CORS was “prohibited from participating in or holding activities as a registered student organization while under investigation.” If CORS was in fact suspended, Complainants ask that OCR investigate why the administration lifted that suspension so shortly after imposing it, when there is no indication that the group ever rescinded its threatening messages toward Jews and Israelis. (Fourteen) Complainants further request that OCR investigate whether the University’s actions with respect to CORS are consistent with how OSU’s administration has treated other alleged misconduct when those most threatened by that misconduct were not Jewish or Israeli.”

After the suspension was lifted, CORS hung “a large banner reading ‘Free Palestine!’ over the railing above a staircase” at the Ohio Union and used a megaphone for speeches which the complaint contends is in violation of university policy. “CORS continues to glorify terrorism on its social media pages: it has not removed the advertisements containing the PFLP logo and violent imagery from its Facebook or Instagram pages, and on February 6, 2024, it posted, ‘Resistance to oppression is not terrorism’ above a photo and quote from PFLP terrorist Leila Khaled, infamous for being the first woman to hijack an airplane. Even in its post announcing its reinstatement, CORS included an image depicting Palestinians wielding assault rifles below the slogan ‘Free Palestine!’”

The complaint lists multiple anti-Israel demonstrations on campus that may have violated university policy, including an event on Nov. 15  where demonstrators shouted “intifada revolution” in front of the OSU president’s office; a few days later, “an unaffiliated student group” staged a demonstration inside of Thompson Library, unfurled a large banner, shouted slogans falsely accusing Israel of “genocide,” and loudly read out the names of people killed in Gaza, disrupting the study space there for approximately an hour. “Demonstrators also loudly chanted the antisemitic call for genocide, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’”

“Though the group had not obtained prior permission for its event as required by the University Space Rules, the OSU President’s Office later acknowledged that nevertheless, ‘University officials … allowed the demonstration to proceed,’” the complaint continues. “Interfering with study in the main library is another example of violating the Student Code of Conduct that prohibits disruption of the educational process and protects the legitimate activities of students attempting to use the library in peace and quiet.”

The complaint concludes by calling for OCR to investigate the university administration’s “failure or deliberate unwillingness to enforce its own policies as they apply to Jewish and Israeli students” and calls for serious remedies, including the university issuing a statement about a “zero-tolerance policy” against antisemitic conduct and engage in “robust enforcement of applicable campus rules and policies” regarding “antisemitic harassment, demonstrations, and signage on campus.”

In a statement, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said that “we believe all the evidence shows that despite a pattern of escalating harassment and intimidation, Ohio State University administrators, faculty and staff repeatedly failed in their duty to protect Jewish and Israeli students from such attacks … We urge the U.S. Department of Education to investigate these incidents and compel the university to take immediate action to address the pervasively hostile environment for Jewish and Israelis on OSU’s campus.”

“We believe all the evidence shows that despite a pattern of escalating harassment and intimidation, Ohio State University administrators, faculty and staff repeatedly failed in their duty to protect Jewish and Israeli students from such attacks.” – Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL

StandWithUs CEO and Co-Founder Roz Rothstein also released a statement that said, “Since Oct. 7, Jewish students on campuses nationwide have faced unprecedented antisemitic harassment and discrimination. Ohio State University is no exception. Antisemitism is expressed openly; blatant verbal and physical threats and attacks on Jewish students often go unaddressed by the administration. By filing this Title VI federal complaint, we aim to hold the administration accountable.”

Kenneth L. Marcus, the Brandeis Center Chairman, statement said “There is a clear, direct, and indisputable correlation between lack of accountability and rising levels of antisemitism.” The  Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights added, “Schools must act immediately to address incidents and hold violators accountable. Unfortunately schools like Ohio State that continue to sweep incidents under the rug are getting worse by the day.  The problem cannot be ignored.  Schools must uphold the law and address each and every incident of antisemitic discrimination and harassment or the problem will continue to snowball.”

In response to a request for comment by the Journal, a university spokesperson pointed to a statement issued by the university and posted online on April 10. “On the weekend of Oct. 7, 2023, Ohio State mobilized to address the health, safety and well-being of our students,” the statement reads. “From that day forward, our words and actions have remained focused on supporting our community and keeping our students safe. It is very disappointing that the April 9 filing with the Office of Civil Rights mischaracterizes what is occurring on our campus and dismisses the university’s strong, student-focused response, including outreach and meetings with student groups, additional safety measures, compliance investigations, assisting law enforcement investigations and student conduct referrals.”

It continued: “Within President Ted Carter’s first two weeks on campus, he met personally with students of Jewish faith and with Palestinian students to hear their concerns. Many of these students are personally affected by the terrorist attacks in October and the ongoing war in Gaza, and the president told students the university would do everything it can to protect and support them. The April 9 filing falsely claims that Ohio State has failed to respond to concerns from students, enforce our policies and respond to a January letter from StandWithUs. These claims are simply not true. Ohio State has responded quickly and decisively to allegations of discrimination and harassment; we have continued to meet with students, and we responded to StandWithUs in February.”

The spokesperson provided the Journal with a copy of that February letter which claimed that the university has stated “unequivocally on numerous occasions that the university has no tolerance for violations of the law or university policy. Ohio State has not and will not tolerate hatred, intimidation or harassment of anyone based on their religious beliefs, nationality or identity.” The university also claimed that StandWithUs’s letter “provides multiple and disturbing examples of incidents which have not been reported to the university … If you can share the names of those Ohio State students or employees who have shared these incidents with your organization, the university will promptly follow up with them and will follow our comprehensive response process.”

Additionally, OSU claimed that StandWithUs mischaracterized the university’s response to an incident in October in which two students spat on Jewish women who were selling “I love Israel” bracelets. The complaint alleges that the incident was reported to the university and that urged OCR to investigate “whether and to what extent OSU failed to address this.” The university pointed StandWithUs to a Nov. 6 statement from then-Acting President and Executive Vice President for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Peter Mohler stating that the incident “has been categorized as a hate crime and publicly reported. This type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable. To be clear, we will not tolerate any such behaviors on our campuses.” Additionally, the university noted that a few days later, Mohler denounced the assaults of Jewish students as well as the vandalism of Hillel and announced that the university was investigating both incidents; further Mohler, met with the campus Hillel and Chabad to discuss the incidents. Two people have been charged related to the Hillel vandalism, and the assault investigation remains ongoing.

The university’s response to StandWithUs concluded “that Ohio State has stated unequivocally on numerous occasions that the university has no tolerance for violations of the law or university policy. Ohio State has not and will not tolerate intimidation or harassment of anyone based on their religious beliefs, nationality or identity. The university also has clearly articulated rules and standards that address the usage of the university and our spaces, and they are applied uniformly for all groups. Ohio State will continue to work every day 4 to create an environment in which respect, civility and compassion are forefront. These are the baseline principles in the university’s Shared Values on which we work to integrate into all facets of our operations.”

UPDATE: Rothstein said in a statement, “While OSU’s response identifies a number of ways the administration asserts it is working to address the antisemitic climate on its campus, the reality is that between the time of OSU’s response and the filing of this complaint, based on information from students and campus stakeholders, that hostile climate has not improved. As alleged in the complaint, the incidents recounted were reported to various OSU administrators tasked with addressing such issues, yet those reports, on numerous occasions, ultimately received no resolution — certainly none sufficient to remedy the harms incurred or the overall sense of Jewish students that their campus is safe and welcoming for them. To the extent there are factual discrepancies between the complaint’s allegations and OSU’s understanding of these matters, this is one of many reasons OCR intervention is necessary; it is far too common for administrators to misunderstand the realities of contemporary antisemitism — especially when otherwise protected free speech crosses the line into discriminatory harassment — and thus fail to implement appropriate remedial measures.”

She added: “While OSU’s adoption of the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] Working Definition of Antisemitism is an important step, we hope that our complaint’s filing is a critical step beyond awareness and acknowledgement to unequivocal and specific action by the administration, including application of the IHRA Definition’s examples to the actual experiences reported by Jewish students in the enforcement of campus policies, as well as the implementation (and robust enforcement) of policies that draw the appropriate line between free speech and unlawful identity-based harassment to ensure full protection for all members of OSU’s campus community, including its Jewish and Israeli members.”