U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Settles Two Complaints Against University of Michigan for Antisemitic Discrimination

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made an announcement today that the University of Michigan (university) has agreed to a resolution agreement to ensure its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when addressing discrimination or harassment allegations related to shared Jewish ancestry and shared Palestinian or Muslim ancestry.

Upon reviewing the university’s documentation of 75 reports concerning shared ancestry harassment and/or discrimination from the 2022-23 school year through February 2024, OCR found no indications of the university meeting its Title VI obligations in assessing incidents that could create a hostile environment for students, faculty, or staff, and taking appropriate measures to end, remedy, and prevent such environments.

For instance, during October 2023, protestors chanted “Nazi liberation” on the central campus, yet the university’s records did not show any steps taken to evaluate or address any resulting hostile environment. Instead, the reports were forwarded to the university’s public affairs department for response.

Similarly, when a Jewish student reported being targeted and harassed on social media in the same month, the university failed to assess the hostile environment or provide remedial action. The student’s complaint detailed instances where a graduate student instructor posted content referencing pro-Palestinian topics and targeted the student, yet the university response focused on informal conflict resolution due to social media protection as free speech.

Additionally, in November 2023, when a student reported being accused of having “terrorist” friends during a pro-Palestinian protest, the university conducted “restorative circles” to address the incident but did not take further actions to address the reported effects on students.

The university’s current policies potentially leave students, faculty, and staff uncertain about the university’s response to discrimination claims. Despite the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX office being responsible for ensuring compliance with federal antidiscrimination laws by the university policy, it did not oversee responses to reports of Title VI discrimination.

However, the university has expressed intent in assigning primary responsibility to the ECRT for handling Title VI complaints.

To address the Title VI concerns raised during OCR’s investigation, the university has committed to:

• Evaluating case files for each discrimination and/or harassment report based on shared ancestry during the 2023-2024 school year to determine if a hostile environment was created and taking further action for an equitable resolution of each incident.
• Providing reports to OCR regarding responses to discrimination reports, including shared ancestry harassment, for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.
• Amending university policies and procedures as needed to ensure adequate coverage of Title VI prohibitions on discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics discrimination.
• Ensuring compliance with Title VI through the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX office.
• Training employees, including university law enforcement, on Title VI obligations, response to discrimination, and university policies.
• Conducting a climate assessment for students and employees to evaluate discrimination and harassment based on race, color, national origin, and shared ancestry characteristics, using the results to identify responsive actions for OCR approval.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon commended the University of Michigan for committing to “ensure that all its students may study without antisemitic discrimination or discrimination based on the region of the world they and their families come from” for the upcoming school year and beyond, acknowledging the university’s swift response following the volatile campus conditions since October 2023.

Title VI protections against national origin discrimination encompass students facing discrimination or harassment based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, such as Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and South Asian descent. The resolution letter and agreement can be accessed on the Office for Civil Rights website.