Lawsuit claims Chapman University ignored anti-Jewish discrimination and death threats
A new lawsuit alleges that Chapman University allowed discriminatory treatment of Jewish students, including blocking students from events based on 'Jewish-sounding' last names.
The lawsuit further claims the school ignored a death threat allegedly made by a Students for Justice in Palestine member against an Israeli-American student.
A new lawsuit alleges that Jewish students at Chapman University in Orange, California, faced discrimination on campus, including being barred from events and subjected to death threats from members of a pro-Palestine group.
“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,” Matthew Mainen, a litigation attorney at the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told Jewish News Syndicate about the lawsuit.
Mainen specifically blamed the administration for turning a blind eye to the alleged discrimination, contending 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.”
An Israeli-American student also reportedly received a death threat from a member of the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, yet the school allegedly failed to respond.
“Yeah, I want you and all Zionist trash bags dead,” the SJP member reportedly posted online, adding, “Zionism is terrorism, you are the terrorist polluting this world.”
Bob Hitchcock, the director of strategic communications at Chapman, told Campus Reform that the university is reviewing the filing and will commit to supporting Jewish students.
“We are aware of the matter and are reviewing the filing,” Hitchcock told Campus Reform. “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.”
Last month, Pomona College in Claremont, California pledged to discipline masked activists who stormed a memorial for victims of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, shouting slurs as security failed to intervene.
College leaders condemned the disruption as antisemitic, reviewed footage, tightened protocols, and urged witnesses to share evidence, vowing accountability whether attackers were students or outsiders to face consequences.
Similarly, last summer, a federal judge ruled that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) violated Jewish students’ rights by allowing anti-Israel protesters to block access to parts of campus, erect checkpoints, and impede classroom pathways.
Judge Mark Scarsi condemned the exclusion as unconstitutional religious discrimination, rejecting UCLA’s defense and insisting the university must protect students’ access.
