MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota is the subject of a new federal investigation that alleges acts of antisemitism on the Twin Cities campus.
This complaint centers around a few messages that were recently posted by professors in the College of Liberal Arts that voiced support for the Palestinian people.
The authors of the complaint argue these messages are anti-Israel and antisemitic, and since they were posted on university websites, they violate the school's code of conduct and must be taken down.
The complaint was filed by former University of Minnesota Regent Michael Hsu and current U of M law professor Richard Painter.
Hsu said he and Painter became aware of these messages on the university’s websites back in October, and Painter sent university leadership a letter asking them to condemn the messages for violating the university’s code of conduct.
Hsu says the university refused, so the men filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education to request a formal investigation.
“My concern is just simply that they’re using the university’s official websites to do this. It's a form of cyberbullying. It is making people feel uncomfortable at the university and any of these faculty could easily just use their own social media to do this,” Hsu said.
The professors who posted these messages at the U of M argue they have the right to share these messages due to academic freedom, and in the messages, they do clarify that these are their own personal views and don't reflect the views of the university as a whole.
The university also responded to the complaint with this official statement:
We are aware of the letter shared with the Department of Education. The letter’s broad characterizations of the University are inaccurate and are fundamentally contrary to our mission and values. We look forward to hearing from the Office of Civil Rights, and to responding appropriately.
The safety of our students, faculty and staff is our top priority. Acts of harassment, intimidation or bias are entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We have and will respond promptly and fully to any reports of this behavior on campus. In addition, the University is providing resources to anyone in our community who needs support right now.
Hsu said he received an official response from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) on Tuesday, that said the complaint has been received and the case has been forwarded to its Chicago office for further evaluation.
This complaint is just one of many the Department of Education said it has received in recent weeks.
Since the conflict in the Middle East started on Oct. 7, the DOE said it has received 29 official complaints requesting investigations into universities and K-12 schools across the country.
Three university presidents have also come under fire in recent days after they were called to Washington D.C. for a hearing on antisemitism and Islamophobia on college campuses.
The president at the University of Pennsylvania resigned over the weekend after all the backlash.
Students and faculty at Harvard and MIT are also calling for the removal of their presidents, but leaders at both universities say they're standing behind their presidents and don't have any plans to remove them.
"The universities are caught in the middle of all this because they want to believe they can act on academic freedom, but I think if you look closely at the law, that they are probably overstepping,” Hsu says.
And it's not just college campuses — there has been a massive increase in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia in general, in recent weeks.
The Anti-Defamation League said between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7 it has received 2,031 complaints, which is a 337% increase over the same time last year.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations shows similar numbers, reporting 2,171 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias between Oct. 7and Dec. 2.
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