US Report: CUNY, Univ. of Michigan Failed to Quell Campus Tensions

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Facts

• The US Dept. of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Michigan failed to comply with Title VI discrimination laws when addressing Israel-Palestine issues on campus.¹
• The OCR probed 75 reports of harassment and discrimination at the University of Michigan during the 2002-23 school year, finding 'no evidence' that the school complied with laws against discrimination based on shared ancestry, such as being Jewish or Muslim.²
• Among the incidents investigated, which also included up to February this year, was a Michigan student reportedly shouting 'Nazi liberation' on campus in October, to which the school only referred the report to its public affairs office.³
• A Jewish student at Michigan also reported being harassed by a graduate-level teacher on Instagram. The instructor allegedly made a pro-Palestine post, saw that the Jewish student viewed it, and then tagged the Jewish student in a subsequent post, saying, 'Did you like my educational talk.'²
• Another Michigan student said she was told she had 'terrorist' friends after attending a pro-Palestine demonstration. While the school encouraged students to apologize rather than discipline them, the OCR said it wasn't enough.²
• Regarding CUNY, the OCR said it failed to properly address antisemitism as well as discrimination against students of Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and South Asian ancestry dating back to 2020. Both schools have pledged to address their shortcomings.⁴

Sources: ¹Hamodia, ²Washington Post, ³Fox44News and ⁴The Hill.

Narratives

• Pro-Israel narrative, as provided by FOX News. Antisemitism runs deeper than just CUNY and Michigan, and its presence has jumped over 300% thanks to weak administrative responses. From Ivy League schools on the East Coast to the University of California, bad faith protesters are making life unbearable for their Jewish peers while college presidents turn a blind eye. Anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda is poisoning academia, and it must stop immediately.
• Pro-Palestine narrative, as provided by Grayzone. If anyone is living in fear at college it's Palestine supporters. Militarized police are violently arresting peaceful anti-genocide protesters for simply exercising their First Amendment rights. The New York Police Department is even reportedly coordinating with the Israeli government to crack down on speech at Columbia University. The extreme crackdown on voices who support the plight of the Palestinian people is deeply disturbing.
• Narrative C, as provided by The Fire. Hate speech does not legally exist in the United States, especially regarding free speech at public universities. No matter how offensive it may be to a person, hateful words cannot and should not be treated as crimes. No matter what side one supports, you should question any decision to investigate or discipline purely speech-related issues. If suppression of speech is allowed to continue, the perception, and possibly the reality, of rising hate will only grow.

Predictions