Author: Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday noted concerns about discrimination against people of Arab and Jewish descent at Johns Hopkins University and reached a settlement with the institution to resolve the complaints.
The university agreed to revise its anti-harassment policy and provide training to staff and students on how to address discrimination and harassment based on race and ethnicity, according to a settlement posted online by the Department of Education.
Johns Hopkins confirmed the settlement to local media.
“Discrimination of any kind, including anti-Semitism and anti-Arab bias, is not only contrary to university policy, it is contrary to our core values,” a Johns Hopkins spokesperson told the Baltimore Banner (NASDAQ: ).
Rights advocates have noted a rise in anti-Semitic, anti-Arab and Islamophobic incidents, including during campus protests, since Israel launched its assault on Gaza following a deadly attack by the Islamist group Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits racial discrimination in US educational programs that receive federal funds.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said Johns Hopkins University received 99 complaints of harassment based on common ancestry between October 2023 and May 2024.
The Department of Education identified examples including complaints about university professors allegedly hurling insults at Arabs and Palestinians, and said university records were “replete with reports” of anti-Jewish tropes being used on campus.
In one such statement, the professor allegedly said, “Those brutal Arabs, God willing, will pay the price like never before,” according to the Department of Education. In another case, someone at a campus protest allegedly held a sign depicting a swastika while expressing support for Hamas, the department added.
Protests have been ongoing at American universities for months, with student protesters demanding an end to US support for Israel’s war in Gaza and faculty investments in companies that allegedly support Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
About 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s 15-month assault on Gaza, according to health officials in the area. About 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage in the Hamas attack on Israel, according to Israeli figures.
Other US universities, including the University of California, Rutgers University, the University of Michigan and the City University of New York have reached similar settlements with the Department of Education to resolve complaints.
