EXCLUSIVE: Dept of Ed investigates ASU over anti-Semitism complaint
The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into Arizona State University over its handling of anti-Semitic incidents, Campus Reform has learned.
The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into Arizona State University over its handling of anti-Semitic incidents, Campus Reform has learned.
The complaint, filed by Campus Reform Editor-in-Chief Dr. Zachary Marschall, states that Jewish students at Arizona State University have felt “threatened and discriminated against” since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack.
An investigation by the Office for Civil Rights was opened into the Tempe, Arizona university on Tuesday. The initial complaint was received by the education department on November 28, 2023.
The complaint states that Arizona State University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter held an event on October 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas terrorist attack, to help others “learn about the Palestinian liberation struggle against the U.S. and Israeli war machine.”
On Oct. 12, according to the complaint, the SJP chapter held a “day of resistance” rally where students carried Palestinian flags and chanted “free, free Palestine” as well as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” according to Cronkite News.
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The complaint seeks “sanctions against the University to the fullest extent OCR is able to impose them as well as forcing the University to ensure its funds are not sent to organizations spreading antisemitism.”
An ASU spokesperson told Campus Reform, “The Department asked ASU on Tuesday to respond, and the university will do so.”
”There are more than 100 such inquiries going on now across the country in K-12 school districts and at universities from Northwestern to Ohio State, Yale to San Diego State, Rutgers to North Carolina,” the spokesperson wrote. “ASU condemns antisemitism and other hateful rhetoric in all its forms.”
”ASU also is responsible for upholding free speech, as granted by the U.S. Constitution. The university neither endorses nor restricts opinions voiced at campus demonstrations. People on our campuses have the right to peacefully express their opinions as long as they comply with the law and the student Code of Conduct,” added the spokesperson.
