The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today that the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has entered into a resolution agreement to ensure compliance with federal civil rights obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This agreement addresses allegations of discrimination based on national origin, including shared Jewish, Muslim, Palestinian, or Arab ancestry.
The investigation by OCR was initiated following a March 2020 complaint alleging numerous incidents of antisemitism at the university. These incidents included swastikas appearing throughout campus, mezuzahs being ripped off students’ doors, and a brick thrown through the window of a Jewish fraternity. OCR reviewed 139 incidents reported to the university from 2015 through December 2023 and found that the university did not meet its obligation under Title VI to assess whether these complaints created a hostile environment for students, faculty, or staff.
Of the 139 reports reviewed by OCR, 135 were related to anti-Jewish discrimination and four concerned anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian, or anti-Arab discrimination. Examples of unassessed incidents include an attack on a Jewish student accompanied by antisemitic remarks, flyers distributed around campus blaming Jews for the Covid agenda, and rocks thrown toward events at the Hillel Center. Additionally, there were instances involving social media messages intolerant of Islam and physical altercations during protests.
OCR's investigation also revealed that university programs responsible for responding to complaints lacked coordination and inconsistently applied policies and procedures. This led to potential gaps in addressing hostile environments based on national origin discrimination.
To address these concerns, the university agreed to several measures:
- Review and revise nondiscrimination policies and procedures.
- Ensure protest and demonstration policies are applied equitably.
- Provide training for law enforcement personnel and employees responsible for investigating discrimination complaints.
- Conduct annual training on national origin discrimination for all faculty, staff, and students.
- Review responses to complaints from the 2023-2024 academic year and take necessary remedial actions.
- Report any complaints alleging shared ancestry discrimination during the 2024-2025 school year to OCR.
- Administer a climate survey to students and staff and create an action plan based on survey results.
“The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has now agreed to take the steps necessary to ensure its education community can learn, teach, and work without an unredressed antisemitic hostile environment or any other hostility related to stereotypes about shared ancestry,” said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon. “OCR will work with the University in the coming years to ensure its fulfillment of this core federal civil rights guarantee.”
The resolution letter and agreement are available on the Office for Civil Rights website.
