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University of California resolves federal complaints over its handling of discrimination cases
A protest encampment at UCLA.
(
Frank Stoltze
/
LAist
)
Topline:
U.S. Department of Education officials agreed to resolve harassment and discrimination complaints against five University of California campuses related to protests over the war in Gaza.
The campuses involved:
- UCLA
- UC San Diego
- UC Santa Barbara
- UC Santa Cruz
- UC Davis
What were the allegations? That university administrators failed to respond promptly and effectively to harassment of their students based on national origin. This includes shared Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab ancestry.
Federal officials began investigating: And documented anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli chants at campus protests; as well as allegations that UCLA police failed to protect Palestinian, Arab, and/or pro-Palestinian student protestors from violent counter-protestors. UC administrators approached the department to resolve the complaints before the investigation ended.
Changes UC says it will make: The University of California hasn't responded to LAist's request for comment. But among other items in the federal agreement, UC says it’ll better train university employees responsible for investigating reports and complaints of discrimination. UC also agreed to survey how much harassment and discrimination people on campus witness or are subject to.
Go deeper:
- The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights published the entire agreement here.
- And here's the link to the letter sent by the department to the University of California.
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