College students attacked or harassed due to their religion would find it easier to file complaints with the U.S. Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights under legislation reintroduced this week.
The Protecting Students on Campus Act—introduced by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and John Fetterman (D-Pa.)—requires colleges and universities to tell students how to file Title VI discrimination complaints, under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, with the department.
That information would have to be posted on the school’s home page and include a link to the civil-rights office’s site, where complaints could be filed.
The bill also would require colleges and universities receiving federal funds to report the number of complaints they received and what they did in response.
“The threats and attacks against Jewish students since Oct. 7 are despicable,” Cassidy stated. “No one should fear for their safety at school because of who they are.”
The measure initially was introduced in January 2024, weeks after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel. Jew-hatred has surged globally, including on college campuses, where many anti-Israel protesters have chanted “from the river to the sea.”
The Anti-Defamation League called the expression antisemitic and said it advocated “the removal of Jews from their ancestral homeland.”
The bill would address all harassment due to a student’s race, color or national origin—what the department calls “shared ancestry.” Muslims, including Palestinian Americans, also have been victims, but the bulk of the complaints that the Education Department has opened and settled since Oct. 7 have involved Jew-hatred.
“This bill is about protecting young people facing discrimination on college campuses and making sure they know their rights,” Fetterman stated. “The increasing rates of discrimination, including harassment, hateful speech, instances of vandalism have left students feeling unsafe and threatened based on their race or what country they’re from, particularly over the last couple years.”
“Colleges need to do more to protect students and help them find paths to recourse,” he added.
An ADL survey found that 73% of Jewish college students said they experienced or witnessed some form of Jew-hatred during the 2023-24 school year, and 46% of Jewish said they felt safe on their campuses.
In an American Jewish Committee report, 24% of past or present Jewish college students said they felt uncomfortable or unsafe at campus events, and 25% said they avoided wearing, carrying or displaying anything identifying them as Jewish.
“In the aftermath of Hamas’s barbaric attack on Oct. 7, we have witnessed a tsunami of antisemitism on college and university campuses,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the ADL, stated. “More must be done to protect Jewish students, hold universities accountable and improve transparency and safeguards against this hate.”
Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, stated that “no person should have to hide who they are or what they believe.”
