Jewish students at Chapman University were subjected to discrimination and harassment with “direct approval” of the highly-ranked private school in southern California, a new lawsuit alleges.
The new suit is different from others against universities over their responses to Jew-hatred in that it accuses Chapman of violating a statute that lawyers typically invoke in instances of workplace discrimination, according to Matthew Mainen, a litigation attorney at the National Jewish Advocacy Center.
“We’re curious to see how the courts take to this new application of this law, because we really think there’s an opportunity here to expand civil rights law,” he told JNS.
Bob Hitchcock, director of strategic communications at the university, told JNS that “we are aware of the matter and are reviewing the filing.”
“We stand by our strong record of supporting Jewish students and continuing to do so is a priority and commitment for us, consistent with our mission and founding,” Hitchcock told JNS.
The 33-page lawsuit, which JNS viewed, was filed on Oct. 28. The National Jewish Advocacy Center and In Every Generation, a division of Hershenson Rosenberg-Wohl APC, are representing Eli Schechter and Talya Malka, both 2024 graduates of the school.
Mainen told JNS that “the administration was presented with clear evidence that students were being prohibited from an event for nothing more than having a Jewish-sounding last name, including a guy who was not remotely Jewish at all.”
In October 2023, Schechter, Malka and other Jewish and non-Jewish students tried to sign up for a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter’s “teach-in” event, in an attempt to “build bridges” with the chapter.
Only one, Katie Gough, was provided with an invitation. She was the only student in the group who is not Jewish and did not have a Jewish-sounding last name, per the suit.
Schechter concluded that they were barred because of their Jewish-sounding last names, including a non-Jewish member of his group, Colby Abeles. His view was that the SJP chapter could not have known their views on Israel, with the exception of his own, as he was the president of the Students Supporting Israel chapter on campus at the time.
When he reported this to Jerry Price, senior vice president for student affairs and dean of students, the senior Chapman official told him that three Jewish students were able to attend the event, and that SJP had the right to “limit its membership to students who support its mission,” according to the lawsuit.
The dean also said that three Jewish students were invited, per the suit.
Schechter and another Jewish student tried to attend, but Price blocked them and security led them away, according to the lawsuit. Mainen told JNS that the ordeal “stood out as shocking.”
The suit also alleges that in May 2024, an anti-Israel encampment was established, barring Zionist students from entering. Price emailed students shortly after the encampment was created, stating that “students taking part in the protest have developed a registration procedure to ensure that everyone in the encampment is approved to be there,” per the suit.
Mainen told JNS that Price was “well aware” that the encampment was banning supporters of Israel from entering. Price was “there even on weekends” and “didn’t do anything to force the encampment to allow Jews,” for whom supporting Israel is a “core part” of their identity, to enter, Mainen said. (JNS sought comment from Price.)
The lawyer also found it shocking that Malka, an Israeli-American, received a death threat from a member of the SJP chapter, and the school did nothing about it, he told JNS.
The SJP member allegedly told Malka, “Yeah, I want you and all Zionist trash bags dead,” after she confronted him for posting to social media, “may Allah bring death to all Israelis who follow Zionism.”
The SJP member also allegedly told Malka that “Zionism is terrorism, you are the terrorist polluting this world.”
“Even the president of the university is saying this kid crossed a line, and then the next day the university is saying, ‘Oh no, he’s no threat, just carry on with your life as if nothing happened,’” Mainen told JNS.
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law filed a complaint with nearly identical allegations against Chapman with the U.S. Department of Education in 2024.
‘Just like workplace racial harassment’
The NJAC lawsuit doesn’t just argue that the university violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act but also that it violated federal law barring racial discrimination in contracts.
Mainen told JNS that the law has typically been used in the “employment context,” such as when a business refuses to hire someone based on the person’s race.
The law itself “doesn’t mention employment once,” Mainen said.
“It’s only about contracts,” he told JNS. “Our argument is: Our clients at Chapman had a contract and the law applies, because all you need is a contract, and there was racial harassment they experienced while the contract was playing out, just like workplace racial harassment.”
“So our argument is, it’s not a workplace discrimination statute. It’s an antidiscrimination statute for contracting,” Mainen said. “If this has been found to apply to workplace harassment, it should apply to all contracts.”
A ruling in their favor could be used in “subsequent cases, and other universities will go on notice on what their obligations are under this law,” according to Mainen.
“Hopefully next time something like this happens, they’re not going to allow groups to ban people because they’re Jewish or block off entire areas of campus where they’re going to make a litmus test saying, ‘If you don’t disavow a core tenet of your identity—for Jews, support of Israel—then we’re not going to allow you on this portion of campus,’” Mainen said.
