Columbia University violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act over the course of 19 months with “deliberate indifference” to students harassing Jewish peers after Oct. 7 and by failing “continually” to protect Jewish students,the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated on Thursday.
Anthony Archeval, acting director of the agency’s civil rights office, told JNS that “all students deserve safety—in class, on campus and at graduation.”
“Columbia University cannot continue to act with deliberate indifference to the hostile environment created by its own students and faculty,” Archeval told JNS.
He added that the department will keep pushing for “meaningful and enforceable commitments” under Title VI “to root out all discrimination, including antisemitism and other forms of racially motivated harassment.”
Archeval stated in a release that the department’s findings “carefully document the hostile environment Jewish students at Columbia University have had to endure for over 19 months, disrupting their education, safety and well-being.”
“We encourage Columbia University to work with us to come to an agreement that reflects meaningful changes that will truly protect Jewish students,” Archeval stated.
The regulations of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services require its civil rights office to seek voluntary compliance from other institutions under Title VI, the department told JNS.
When investigations suggest that there has been noncompliance, as with Columbia, the U.S. agency’s regulations require it to resolve the matter in an informal way whenever it can, per the department.
It told JNS that it is encouraged by the school’s reaction to the department’s joint statement with the U.S. Department of Education and that it will “make additional efforts to persuade the university to take appropriate corrective action.”
“However, given the length of time that has transpired since Oct. 7, 2023 through the present, and the series of events that have demonstrated to us that the university has acted—and continues to act—with deliberate indifference,” the department “is prepared to refer this matter to the Department of Justice as allowed under its Title VI implementing regulations, in the absence of voluntary compliance,” it told JNS.
Columbia failed to create effective processes for reporting Jew-hatred until summer 2024 and to follow its policies and procedures in response to complaints from Jewish students and about student misconduct against Jewish students, the department stated.
The school also didn’t investigate or punish vandals, including in examples of “repeated drawing of swastikas and other universally recognized hate images” nor did it enforce “its time, place and manner restrictions for protests held on campus, such as inside and around its academic buildings, residence halls and libraries since Oct. 7, 2023,” per the U.S. agency.
“We understand this finding is part of our ongoing discussions with the government,” a Columbia University spokesperson told JNS.
“Columbia is deeply committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of harassment and discrimination on our campus,” the spokesperson said. “We take these issues seriously and will work with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education to address them.”
