Vermont TA threatened lower grades for Jewish students who visited Israel, complaint says

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened a Title VI investigation into the University of Vermont following a complaint that Jewish students at the school have been subjected to persistent anti-Semitic discrimination on campus.

The complaint, filed in October 2021 by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, alleges the hostility violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The complaint asserts that Jewish students were excluded from multiple campus groups and faced online harassment from a teaching assistant (TA), according to the release.

The University of Vermont did not respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment, but President Suresh Garimella published a response to the allegations and subsequent media coverage on Sept. 15.

“The uninformed narrative published this week has been harmful to UVM,” wrote Garimella. “Exploitation of fear and divisiveness by advancing false claims that UVM failed to respond to complaints of antisemitic behavior creates confusion and a sense of insecurity for the entire community.”

According to the complaint, a hostile environment had existed on campus for years, but it was exacerbated in 2021 when a TA began espousing hateful commentary against students who expressed support for Zionism, a movement that considers Israel the homeland for Jewish people.

The TA, who has not been named, “encouraged others to cyberbully and ostracize these Jewish students and vandalize the Israeli flag,” according to the release.

“Is it unethical for me, a TA, to not give zionists credit for participation??? I feel like its good and funny,” the TA wrote earlier this year on social media, according to the release. She also suggested lowering the grades of students who participated in Birthright Israel, a trip for young adults of Jewish heritage.

The complaint also alleges that the same TA assisted in fostering the hostile environment on campus toward Jews. Two student organizations, UVM Empowering Survivors, a sexual assault survivors’ group, and the UVM Revolutionary Socialist Union Book Club, banned Zionists, according to the release.

“You actually had clubs who came out and boldly said that these students aren’t welcome,” Alyza Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center, told McClatchy News. “And that, quite frankly, is going beyond what I’ve seen, and I work with students on campuses across the country. And the administration has done absolutely nothing.”

Garimella said the school “vigorously denies the false allegation of an insufficient response to complaints of threats and discrimination.” He added that the university had conducted an investigation and found discriminatory grading had not occurred, and that student groups accused of excluding Zionists were not recognized UVM organizations and therefore not bound by university policies.

“I was very gratified to see that the Department of Education opened the investigation and extremely dismayed to read the president’s response,” added Lewin. “It was astonishing to see the extent of his denial.”

The Anti-Defamation League found that anti-Semitic incidents across the country, including assault, harassment and vandalism, reached an “all-time high” in 2021.