Illinois U expands nondiscrimination policies to protect Jewish students' Zionist identity

Discrimination and harassment of Jewish students based on Zionist aspects of their identity will be prohibited by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the university and Jewish organizations announced on Tuesday as part of an agreement to extend nondiscrimination policies to include targeting of Jews and more expansive definitions of antisemitism.

The agreement of mutual understanding between the university, Jewish United Fund of Chicago, Hillel International, and Illinois Hillel would extend to Jewish students the protections of the university’s 1987 nondiscrimination policy, which prohibits discrimination and harassment based on protected characteristics against students, faculty, and staff for admissions, employment, and university programs and activities.

The university’s pledge to protect Jewish students included their harassment or discrimination based on “Zionist aspects of their Jewish identity.” The university had previously recognized that Zionism is an integral part of the identity of Jewish identity in a 2020 statement with the same Jewish organizations and promised to recommit to the declaration.

“UIUC has agreed to reform its policies and procedures in a pathbreaking manner that can serve as a model for higher education institutions across the country,” said Hillel president and CEO Adam Lehman. “These critical commitments will make campus safer and more welcoming for Jewish students and for all students in Urbana-Champaign.”

Taking real action

The university said it would take action against such discrimination, which included not permitting registered student organizations (RSOs) to boycott university-sponsored activities because of Jewish students organization participation.

 RSOs will be required to sign nondiscrimination statements to prevent the exclusion of any students based on any protected characteristics.

Projects to be developed by the university will include a bias incidents information dashboard and an advisory council on inclusion and belonging.

The university will offer training for administration and students on antisemitism in cooperation with Hillel, which will include how students can experience anti-Zionist conduct as antisemitism. 

There will also be at least one annual meeting held at the institution for students, faculty and staff to raise concerns about incidents of harassment.

According to the agreement, the university recognized the 2023 US National Strategy which elaborates that it is antisemitism when Jews are derided and excluded on campus based on their views on Israel, and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish animus.

The strategy also defines antisemitism as “a stereotypical and negative perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred of Jews.”

“It is prejudice, bias, hostility, discrimination, or violence against Jews for being Jews or Jewish institutions or property for being Jewish or perceived as Jewish,” read the strategy and agreement. “Antisemitism can manifest as a form of racial, religious, national origin, and/or ethnic discrimination, bias, or hatred; or, a combination thereof. However, antisemitism is not simply a form of prejudice or hate. It is also a pernicious conspiracy theory that often features myths about Jewish power and control.”

Backed by the US federal state

The agreement coincides with a US  Department of Education Office for Civil Rights resolution of a complaint against the university for antisemitic discrimination.

The OCR and the university came to a resolution agreement for a 2020 complaint that included allegations of frequent swastika graffiti on campus, damaged Jewish religious items, and a brick being thrown through a Jewish fraternity house window.

After reviewing 135 incidents of anti-Jewish discrimination and four incidents of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian, or anti-Arab discrimination, the OCR came to the conclusion that the university did not meet its 1964 Civil Rights Act Title VI obligations to assess whether a hostile environment was being created on campus. 

The investigation claimed that the university arms for responding to complaints lacked coordination and inconsistency in the application of policies and procedures, leading to gaps in responses to discrimination.

The university agreed to revise its nondiscrimination policies to ensure that reported incidents were not creating a hostile environment, and policies for law enforcement response to protests to ensure Title VI compliance. The university will also provide training to law enforcement and anti-discrimination staff, and annual training on discrimination to students, staff and faculty.

“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,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement. “OCR will work with the University in the coming years to ensure its fulfillment of this core federal civil rights guarantee.”