Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

UMass under Title VI probe for not protecting Jews, ‘Campus Reform’ says

The publication filed a complaint alleging that the public research university failed to take “concrete steps” to protect Jews.

UMass Amherst
Part of the UMass Amherst campus in 2017. Credit: Feng Cheng/Shutterstock.

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating UMass Amherst, a highly-ranked public research university, for failing to take “concrete steps” after two antisemitic incidents last fall, according to Campus Reform, which filed the Title VI complaint.

The Education Department has not yet updated its list of open Title VI investigations, which it tends to update weekly on Tuesdays. The department says only that the investigations are over alleged “discrimination involving shared ancestry” under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It does not say, for example, if the allegations relate to Jew-hatred or another kind of discrimination.

Those who file complaints are free to state the reasons for their complaint, and Campus Reform cited, in part, antisemitic harassment on UMass Amherst’s campus on Oct. 12 when Kassy Dillon—a former JNS editor and former correspondent at Campus Reform—was reporting on a “Day of Resistance.” (Dillon is now a Daily Wire video reporter.)

The complaint also cites an Oct. 25 protest, when anti-Israel activists called for “Intifada revolution” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” according to the Campus Reform complaint.

“When journalists make these requests, they’re really made on behalf of the public, not to bury the issue and respond 11 months later,” Randy Mastro, a former deputy New York City mayor, told JNS.
“Under any Republican administration, Israelis are never going to be sanctioned for simply advocating against aid to Hamas or advocating against illegal Palestinian construction,” Eugene Kontorovich, a law professor, told JNS.
The USAID Inspector General’s office is “also working to prevent Hamas-linked staff from jumping to other aid organizations operating in Gaza,” a senior Trump admin official told JNS.
“Regardless of how it is ultimately classified, incidents like this send shockwaves through the Jewish community,” Rabbi Noah Farkas of Jewish Federation Los Angeles told JNS.
Prosecutors said the man caused damage to both facilities before sending texts boasting about the vandalism.
Despite Israeli objections to previously reported terms, the official said Washington is confident that all U.S. allies “will get on board” with the emerging agreement.