Education Dept. Announces Resolution Agreement with U. of Illinois

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced a resolution agreement with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on (UIUC) on Sept. 3 over a complaint regarding antisemitism on campus filed in 2020.

The complaint was filed by the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; OCR concluded that the university did not adequately handle 134 instances of reported antisemitism on campus from 2015 to 2023. “These unassessed incidents regarding a possible hostile environment included, for example, an allegation that a Jewish student was attacked by another student who ripped off ‘his Jewish chain’ and later told the Jewish student that he attacked him because he is Jewish and that, ‘I wish my ancestors finished the job on you’; flyers distributed around campus via plastic bags containing rocks stating, ‘Every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish,’ and listing several people with the word ‘Jewish’ next to their names; and a student throwing a rock toward an event at the Hillel Center,” an OCR press release stated. OCR also concluded that UIUC’s “programs charged with responding to complaints of national origin harassment lacked coordination and inconsistently applied university policies and procedures, leading to potential gaps in the university’s ability to address a hostile environment on the basis of national origin discrimination.”

As part of the resolution, the university’s actions will include reexamining their policies on discrimination and demonstrations, take a campus climate survey among students and staff and develop a plan to address the matter that will be approved by OCR.

“The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has now agreed to take the steps necessary to ensure its education community can learn, teach, and work without an unredressed antisemitic hostile environment, or any other hostility related to stereotypes about shared ancestry,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement. “OCR will work with the University in the coming years to ensure its fulfillment of this core federal civil rights guarantee.”

“The University of Illinois … has now agreed to take the steps necessary to ensure its education community can learn, teach, and work without an unredressed antisemitic hostile environment, or any other hostility related to stereotypes about shared ancestry.” – Catherine Lhamon

Also on Sept. 3, UIUC reached an agreement of mutual understanding with the Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF), Hillel International and the university Hillel. Under the agreement, the university will adopt the United States’ National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism developed by the Biden administration in May 2023, provide antisemitism training to students and administrators, require student organizations to sign a nondiscrimination agreement and meet with the three Jewish groups as well as the university’s Chabad every six months for the next three years regarding the status of the agreement. Further, under the agreement the university reaffirmed its November 2020 joint statement with JUF, Illini Hillel and the Brandeis Center that “for many Jewish students, Zionism is an integral part of their identity and their ethnic and ancestral heritage. These students have the right to openly express identification with Israel. The university will safeguard the abilities of these students, as well as all students, to participate in university-sponsored activities free from discrimination and harassment.”

UIUC Chancellor Robert Jones released a statement where he was “thankful for the partnership with Hillel, and the Jewish United Federation, over the past several years to combat antisemitism on our campus … We are deeply committed to implementing the Mutual Understandings we are announcing today and to working together to provide a safe and supportive educational environment for our entire Jewish student community and for all students at Illinois.”

Hillel International President and CEO Adam Lehman said in a statement, “Hillel’s century-long commitment to the safety of Jewish college students has been demonstrated again by our close collaboration with JUF and other local Jewish organizations to achieve this landmark agreement at the University of Illinois. UIUC has agreed to reform its policies and procedures in a pathbreaking manner that can serve as a model for higher education institutions across the country. These critical commitments will make campus safer and more welcoming for Jewish students, and for all students in Urbana-Champaign.”

Alyza Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center, also released a statement: “The Brandeis Center is gratified that UIUC’s administration began engaging in meaningful discussions with the Jewish community about how to address antisemitism on campus after we filed our OCR complaint years ago. Today, as part of this historic agreement, UIUC reaffirmed its commitment to protect all students, including Jewish students for whom Zionism is an integral component of their Jewish identity, from harassment and discrimination. The agreement marks a significant milestone, and will, when implemented, improve the campus climate for Jewish students.”