| Addressing anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism on America's college campuses is attracting
more and more bi-partisan support in the House, Senate, and state legislatures.
The work of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research is frequently cited
by senators, congressmen, and state representatives as part of their efforts to
combat anti-Semitic bigotry in higher education.
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Letter from Congress Members to D.O.E. Regarding
Anti-Semitism on Campus
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April 30, 2008
To: Secretary Margaret Spellings
U.S. Department of Education
Office of the Secretary
400 Maryland Avenues, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1510
From:
Brad Sherman, Member of Congress
Linda Sanchez, Member of Congress
Steven Rothman, Member of Congress
Allyson Schwartz, Member of Congress
RE: Title VI Applies to Anti-Semitism
Dear Secretary Spellings,
We are writing to express our concern regarding anti-Semitic incidents aimed at
Jewish students at several colleges and universities and the response to such incidents
by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR)...
... In another letter to the Institute for Jewish and Community Research dated October
22, 2004, OCR, relying upon the court's decision in Shaare Tefila Congregation,
explained that "[i]n short, OCR recognizes that Title VI covers harassment of students
of Jewish heritage regardless of whether the students may be Caucasian and American
born."
Read the Letter
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Letter from Senate Judiciary Committee Regarding Anti-Semitism on Campus
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February 27, 2008
To: Secretary Margaret Spellings
U.S. Department of Education
Office of the Secretary
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1510
From:
Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts
Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Delaware
Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
Dianne Feinsein, California
Russell D. Feingold, Wisconsin
Charles E. Schumer, New York
Richard J. Durvin, Illinois
Benjamin L. Cardin, Maryland
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
Orrin G. Hatch, Utah
Charles e. Grassley, Iowa
Jon Kyl, Arizona
Jeff Sessions, Alabama
Lindsey O. Graham, South Carolina
John Cornyn, Texas
Sam Brownback, Kansas
Tom Coburn, Oklahoma
Dear Secretary Spellings,
We are writing to express concern regarding anti-Semitic incidents
aimed at Jewish students at several colleges and universities and the
response to such incidents by the Department of Education's Office for
Civil Rights (OCR)...
Read Letter |
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore Comments on Campus Censorship
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A study of almost 1,300 academics from more than 700 colleges and universities by
Gary A. Tobin, Ph.D., and Aryeh K. Weinberg show an American faculty that is overwhelmingly
liberal in the key areas of the humanities and the social sciences - two fields
with tremendous influence, as all students, even science and business students,
have to take some liberal arts courses to graduate. Further, professors from the
humanities and the social sciences are those whose area of expertise is politics
and social commentary.
Tobin and Weinberg's 2006 survey, "Political Beliefs and Behavior of College Faculty,"showed
that 58% of humanities faculty believe that U.S. policies in the Middle East have
created the problems we face in the region. Similarly, 56% of humanities professors
see the U.S. and Israel as the greatest threat to world peace, while only 41% name
China, Russia, and Iran combined.
Read Article |
Federal Government Reopens Case Against UC Irvine
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June 6, 2008
ZOA Press Release
Department
of Education Reopens Case Against UC Irvine: Federal Government
Initiates New Investigation Into UC Irvine's Response to Campus
Anti-Semitism
By letter to the Zionist Organization of American (ZOA) dated April 25,
2008, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
has indicated that it will be investigating several incidents of
alleged anti-Semitic harassment, intimidation and discrimination that
occurred in May 2007, at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
The ZOA had brought these incidents to OCR's attention almost one year
ago, asserting that the incidents show that UCI has continued to
respond ineffectively to campus anti-Semitism, in violation of Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI). Title VI requires that
recipients of federal funding (like UCI) ensure that their programs and
activities are free of discrimination based on "race, color, or
national origin." If the recipient is found to have violated Title VI,
it can lose its federal funding.
Read Press Release |
State Department Releases Anti-Semitism Report
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Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism Report released by the Office of the Special Envoy
to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, U.S. Department of State
"The Jewish people have seen, over the years and over the centuries, that hate prepares
the way for violence. The refusal to expose and confront intolerance can lead to
crimes beyond imagining. So we have a duty to expose and confront anti-Semitism,
wherever it is found."
- President George W. Bush, May 18, 2004, Washington, D.C.
"Gathered in this place we are reminded that such immense cruelty did not happen
in a far-away, uncivilized corner of the world, but rather in the very heart of
the civilized world....the story of the [concentration] camps reminds us that evil
is real, and must be called by its name, and must be confronted. We are reminded
that anti-Semitism may begin with words, but rarely stops with words... and the
message of intolerance and hatred must be opposed before it turns into acts of
horror."
- Vice President Richard B. Cheney, January 27, 2005. Krakow, Poland
Dear Reader,
Anti-Semitism is one of the oldest forms of malicious intolerance and violates the
precepts of human dignity and equality that are fundamental to a free and peaceful
society.
History has shown that wherever anti-Semitism has gone unchecked, the persecution
of others has been present or not far behind.
Defeating anti-Semitism must be a cause of great importance not only for Jews, but
for all people who value humanity and justice and want to live in a more tolerant,
peaceful world. Together, we must continue our efforts to monitor and combat anti-Semitism
in all of its forms wherever and whenever it occurs.
Sincerely,
Gregg J. Rickman,
Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
Link to Full Report |
Message from Dr. Gary A. Tobin President The Institute for Jewish & Community Research