Biden Ed Department Approves Another Toothless Anti-Semitism Settlement, This Time With Rutgers

President Joe Biden's Department of Education reached an agreement Thursday with Rutgers University to settle civil rights complaints alleging that Jewish students faced discrimination on campus since October 2023. The school didn't admit wrongdoing and agreed only to underwhelming measures, such as reviewing its nondiscrimination policies.

In the resolution, Rutgers agreed to "provide training" to campus police officers and "employees responsible for investigating complaints and other reports of discrimination." The school also agreed to conduct "listening sessions" and "develop a climate assessment" meant to evaluate "the extent to which students and/or employees are subjected to, or witness discrimination, including harassment, based on national origin, including shared Jewish, Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, and/or Muslim ancestry."

"Rutgers has reached a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights to continue to take steps to clarify, communicate, and review its policies and procedures related to discrimination and harassment, especially around national origin," a university spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon. "The Rutgers community stands firmly against discrimination and harassment in all its forms, and the university will always strive to strengthen the policies and practices that protect our students, faculty, and staff. Rutgers is grateful to the Office of Civil Rights for its guidance."

The agreement settled three civil rights complaints but involved nearly 400 reports of discrimination against Jewish students. In one instance, an anti-Israel protester identified where a Jewish student lived and called for him to be killed. In another, a swastika was drawn on a Jewish student's dorm room door.

The settlement comes in the wake of widespread anti-Semitism that has gripped Rutgers's campus since Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel. For instance, in March, the face of a Jewish freshman was plastered on flyers for an anti-Israel referendum in the dormitory where the student lives. A member of one of Rutgers's advisory boards has regularly posted pro-Hamas content on his social media accounts, including several posts hailing attacks on Israeli troops as "hunting season."

Last month, two Rutgers faculty unions adopted an anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions resolution, with approximately 60 percent of the groups voting in favor. The resolution accused Israel of apartheid and ethnic cleansing and urged the university to divest its endowment from companies and organizations linked to the Israeli government. The measure furthermore called on Rutgers to terminate its partnership with Tel Aviv University and to "disallow any future collaboration on Israeli military or intelligence technology." Such a boycott, illegal in the state of New Jersey, was not mentioned in the settlement.

Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway announced in September that he would step down after the 2024-25 academic year. During his tenure, the campus faced disruptive anti-Israel protests on campus, including a weeks-long illegal encampment that often left the university's Jewish student population feeling unsafe and at risk. On April 4, a Rutgers town hall descended into anarchy as anti-Israel students chanted demands to "globalize the intifada" and hurled anti-Semitic insults at Jewish students. Holloway was forced to end the event early, and police escorted him out. Approximately 40 Jewish students, many of whom were left "shaking" and terrified, were also escorted out.

A nearly identical settlement was announced last month with the University of California system. Like Rutgers, university leaders made no admission of wrongdoing and instead agreed to "provide training" to campus police officers and "employees responsible for investigating complaints and other reports of discrimination." They also agreed to "create a plan to work with respective campuses to develop climate surveys" meant to evaluate "the extent to which students are subjected to or witness discrimination, including harassment, based on actual or perceived race, color, and/or national origin."

Under Biden, the Department of Education has launched dozens of investigations into schools accused of discriminating against Jewish students. While many cases remain unresolved, those that have been settled have resulted in insignificant changes.

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