In September, an Orthodox student at Barnard claimed that a faculty advisor, Professor Rachel McDermott, steered her away from a class taught by an allegedly anti-Israel professor. As a result, the Institute for Jewish & Community Research filed a complaint with the New York Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. The Forward reported last week that the OCR has now dropped the investigation:
“Because of the conflicting version of events and no other evidence to support the complainant’s allegation, the [Office of Civil Rights] determined that there was insufficient evidence to substantiated the complainant’s allegation,” the decision reads.
Interestingly, the case (even after its dismissal) may set the precedent that Jewish students are deserving of legal protection as a discrete ethnic group, according to Kenneth Marcus, a former OCR director who filed the complaint:
“This case establishes for the first time that Jewish college students have a legal right against racial steering. Never before had [the Office of Civil Rights] acknowledged that they will assert jurisdiction if a student is given poor guidance based on the fact that they are Jewish,” said Marcus.
Campus discussions of Israel-Palestine have long been polluted with overt personal biases and intra-group hostility. Whether this precedent serves to help fix these problems or simply exacerbates them remains to be seen. This is especially important as several Jewish organizations have been arguing for a revision of college civil rights laws that would include protections for Jews.
