Temple agrees to provide training, review response to antisemitism, anti-Muslim complaints

Temple University has agreed to provide anti-discrimination training to all students and staff by May 1.

They plan to conduct a campus survey about the prevalence of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian incidents and review its handling of complaints over the last two years as part of a resolution agreement with the US Department of Education.

Temple received at least 50 reports of antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian discrimination and harassment during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, according to the federal department’s Office of Civil Rights, which announced the resolution agreement Monday.

Some incidents occurred at on-campus protests about the Israel-Hamas war, while others involved vandalism, graffiti, and social media posts, the report said.

Multiple complaints 

Among the reports were: A Jewish professor who cited repeated and escalating harassment; students who supported Israel who said they were spit on; an Israeli student who believed her art was vandalized because of her nationality; and a professor who was accused of calling Muslim students “terrorists.”

The report looked at incidents that occurred during an off-campus protest on Oct. 12, 2023, and an on-campus protest on Oct. 25, 2023. Also noted as part of that Oct. 25 protest was an episode in a first-year law class when some students chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,” as they walked out of class.

Other complaints cited in the report included:

1.  An Aug. 29 pro-Palestinian rally when some demonstrators went to Temple’s Hillel and used megaphones to chant at those within the building.
2. A May 9 incident when the Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), reported an Israeli flag was stolen from its property and “Free Palestine” spray-painted on the roof, and a subsequent incident in July on the roof of the house.
3. A swastika drawn on a dorm room door, later discovered by two students.
4. A Jewish student being prevented from attending a Students for Justice in Palestine meeting.
5. A student reporting that the word “Jew” was written on a car in front of her stoop and that video surveillance showed the writer to be a male neighbor, who is also a student.

The civil rights office, in a statement, recognized Temple’s consistent “proactive and responsive steps” to reports of harassment and cited the school’s “robust processes” for addressing reports.

But the office said it also was concerned that the school did not take steps to assess whether those incidents “individually or cumulatively created a hostile environment for students, faculty, or staff, and, if so, taken steps reasonably calculated to end the hostile environment.”

'Incidents created a hostile environment'

According to the letter by Amy Niedzalkoski, chief regional attorney for the civil rights office’s Philadelphia branch, Temple allowed multiple university offices that received complaints to address them in isolation, which “appears to have contributed to its apparent failure to assess whether the incidents cumulatively created a hostile environment.”

The North Philadelphia University is among a growing number of schools that have entered into agreements with the civil rights office following a flood of complaints in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war.

Other local colleges that have entered into agreements include Drexel University in Philadelphia and Lafayette and Muhlenberg Colleges in the Lehigh Valley.

Cases remain open at Rutgers, Princeton, and Lehigh Universities and Swarthmore College, according to the department’s website.

In a statement to the campus community, Temple president John A. Fry said the university responded to the complaints it received and took them seriously but acknowledged that improvements are needed. Fry has been Temple’s president since Nov. 1.

“While OCR has raised concerns about some of these incidents and while those concerns do not rise to the level of findings, Temple is committed to reviewing and addressing those incidents thoroughly,” Fry said.

The university, he said, already has clarified its guidance for demonstrations and hosted a teach-in on antisemitism. Even prior to the Oct. 7 attack, antisemitism was on the university’s radar.

In spring 2022, the school established a Blue Ribbon Commission in response to “the noticeable pattern of rising antisemitism in American society and on college campuses nationwide.” It also hired a special adviser on antisemitism in December of that year and created an Interfaith Inclusion Center.

“As we move forward,” Fry said, “we remain steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive community. This resolution provides a framework for strengthening our systems and processes to support our students and community and to address and drive out hate.”

Under the resolution agreement, Temple said it would provide annual training to all employees and staff responsible for investigating discrimination and harassment, in addition to the training about anti-discrimination that will be provided to all staff and students this school year.

The climate survey will gauge “the extent to which students and/or staff are subjected to, or witness discrimination, including harassment,” according to the agreement.

“The university will analyze the results of the climate assessment within 90 days of completing its analysis of the climate survey data to identify appropriate steps the university could take to improve the university’s climate,” the agreement states.