Education Dept.: Drexel fails to assess incidents making anti-Jewish hostile climate

While Drexel University took several proactive steps to address campus antisemitism and investigated potential anti-Jewish discrimination incidents, a US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigation found on Friday that the university generally failed to properly assess if the incidents of harassment and discrimination created a hostile environment for Jewish students.

The OCR and Drexel entered a resolution agreement on Wednesday to resolve the issues that were identified during the investigation, though the initial review into an October 10 dormitory arson determined that it did not involve antisemitic discrimination and showed that the university took precautionary measures by issuing condemnations of hate and organizing meetings with Jewish and Muslim leaders.

The office reviewed 35 other reports of escalating incidents of alleged harassment based on shared Jewish ancestry from October 2022 to January 2024, concluding that the university investigated reports as only individual incidents and, at times, did not apply an accurate legal standard.

“OCR is concerned that the University appears not to have taken prompt and effective steps reasonably calculated to end the hostile environment and prevent it from recurring. Specifically, for the past 18 months, the University had repeated notice of a growing, pervasive hostile environment, and yet, in response to almost all of the incidents reported to it, the University’s actions were limited to addressing each incident on an individual basis, instead of responding to the accumulation of evidence of a hostile environment that necessitated more effective responsive action,” said the report.

One report was about a person making jokes mocking Muslims for wearing Hijabs, joking about Indian people smelling, and stating that “Ashkenazi Jews are inferior to his kind.” A second report saw the local Students for Justice in Palestine publicly share a student’s name, account information, and picture. Another reported club saw the group’s president make jokes about Jewish people, including references to the “Jewish media,” Nazis, and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

“Jews are stupid. They have no right to be upset about what is happening in [Israel/Palestine],” a student allegedly said in one report. “Did you know that American cops are trained in Israel? That is why the cops here are so bad.”

In some instances, students engaged in threatening rhetoric and support of terrorism. An individual associated with Drexel was implicated in telling a student online that she was “nothing but a dummy in hand of the American[s] and Jews,” and warned that they would “change” her face if they met in the future, but were unable to verify their identity.

University unable to identify a Drexel affiliate who implied they supported Hamas on TikTok

THE UNIVERSITY was also unable to identify another Drexel-associated person who implied that they supported Hamas on TikTok. In another incident a parent alerted the University president that a graduate student involved in organizing campus protests called for global intifada, the destruction of Israel, and wrote on social media on October 7  that “our fighters know what they are doing. They know decolonization is a practice and that our liberation necessitates armed struggle.”

The OCR said that for many online incidents, the university did not consider student remarks as contributing to a hostile environment because they occurred off campus. The campus of Drexel University is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; it was founded in 1891.

Drexel had seen several incidents of vandalism and graffiti, including “F**k Jews” accompanied by a swastika in the women’s bathroom on October 13. In November, several students had their mezuzahs – containers of religious text traditionally placed on the doorframes of Jewish homes and institutions – removed from their dormitory doors. In February, “Free Gaza” was graffitied on the driveway sidewall of the Drexel Hillel building.

OCR noted the proactive efforts by the university to foster a safe community for Jewish students before October, such as supporting the construction of the Perelman Center for Jewish Life with a kosher cafeteria and a partnership with Hillel to provide kosher and Shabbat-friendly housing.

Following the October 7 massacre, the university sent out several communiques on antisemitism and offered additional events and information sessions about resources and support systems for impacted students. The Department of Public Safety provided additional security for Jewish-affiliated organizations, conducting more than 1,600 security rounds since October 7.

The resolution agreement, which doesn’t attribute wrongdoing or liability by the university, said that the university had resolved to conduct a review of its response during the last two academic years and take remedial actions if required. The university will also provide the OCR with information on future complaints for the next two school years and address any potential feedback.

Drexel agreed to resolve its policies and procedures in the assessment of incidents, including off-campus and on social media reports, and how they contribute to a hostile campus environment. The institution will also provide increased anti-discrimination training for faculty, staff, and students, and the investigators into complaints.