Jewish students at Rutgers University have accused the Biden administration of striking what they see as a sweetheart deal with the university, freeing it from responsibility for allowing a culture of anti-Semitism to persist.
The settlement, announced Jan. 2 by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, requires Rutgers to take a series of actions to combat discrimination on campus after 400 reports of hate incidents on campus were received between July 2023 and June 2024. accounting for nearly three-quarters.
In one such incident, a student published an inflammatory post on social media encouraging violence against an Israeli who attended the university and providing information on how to find them. In another report, a Jewish student’s dormitory was found vandalized, with a swastika painted on the outside and the doorposts defaced. Members of the Jewish Brotherhood claim they were threatened for believing another report.
Rutgers University president prepares to resign after dealing with pandemic and anti-Israel protests
A sign reading “Glory to Our Martyrs” stands on a tree on Rutgers University’s Newark campus. (Christopher L. D’Alessandro)
As part of the settlement, Rutgers agreed to issue a statement to students and employees saying discrimination will not be tolerated on campus and to review past reports of discrimination to determine whether further action is needed to comply with Title IX.
However, many Rutgers students believe the agreement does not go far enough to protect them from the relentless onslaught of anti-Semitism on campus since October 7.
Camilla Vaynberg, vice chancellor for Rutgers Students for Israel, told Fox News Digital that the measures Rutgers agreed to are unlikely to stem the tide of anti-Semitism on campus and may even lead to the current It will not ultimately be enforced after principal Jonathan Holloway steps down.
“I personally think the university is out of the woods, and that’s what we promised before,” Weinberg said.
“Whether the agreement reached by the two parties will [Holloway] Whoever takes his place will his faculty and education remain the same?
“A lot of what Rutgers agrees to involves ‘statements’ and ‘comments,’ but they’ve been making statements and comments left and right since October 7th, and yet the rate of anti-Semitic incidents at Rutgers is still It’s on the rise,” Ben Stern, 20, a sophomore political science major at the school, told Fox Digital News.
“The Department of Energy responded to more than 400 reports of discrimination in one year and walked away with another non-binding agreement that effectively offered no protection to anyone. It’s official; this administration is thoroughly It has failed the American Jewish community,” said Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Center for Jewish Advocacy.
“I think this solution is nowhere near the solution that is needed to address the problem of anti-Semitism at Rutgers,” Stern lamented.
Rutgers students chant “USA!” against anti-Israel agitators
On May 21, 2024, Rutgers University students set up a Gaza Solidarity Camp at a New Jersey university on the Rutgers University-Newark campus in Newark, United States. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Some critics claimed that the Biden administration was trying to use the settlement to prevent the incoming Trump administration from taking more severe punitive measures against the university.
“It’s shameful to let universities, including Rutgers, off the hook in the final days of the Biden-Harris administration.” Rep. Tim Walberg (Mich.), chairman of the House Education Workforce Committee Republicans) said in a statement Thursday.
Trump vowed at a September conference on combating anti-Semitism in Washington, D.C., that his administration would revoke accreditation and federal support from universities if they did not stop teaching “anti-Semitic propaganda.”
“The Biden administration has once again proven that it doesn’t care about anti-Semitism in the United States. it’s no coincidence [they] These long-awaited decisions were issued just two weeks before leaving office,” said former Rutgers Hillel Director Andrew Getraer.
“It’s a weak deal,” Rutgers junior Joe Kindy told Fox News Digital.
“I am extremely disappointed that the Biden administration has reached this agreement with Rutgers. This agreement is far from an end to the hatred at our state universities,” Kindy said.
Click here to get the Fox News app
Rutgers University students occupied tents and held a rally outside Murray Hall as part of a protest in support of Palestinians affected by the Gaza war. (Alexander Lewis/MyCentralJersey/USA TODAY NETWORK)
Jewish students have been sounding the alarm about persistent anti-Semitism at universities since Hamas launched a genocidal attack on October 7 in which the terror group killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped hundreds more .
LGBTQ Orthodox Jewish student Rivka Schafer is suing the school after their faces appeared on anti-Israel flyers posted outside their dormitories.
“The message to Schaeffer and other Jewish students was clear: ‘Don’t support Israel, we know where you are sleeping,’” their complaint reads.
Raj A. Saad, a New Jersey attorney and member of the Center for Security, Race, and Rights at Rutgers University, often shares disgusting images of Hamas terrorists killing IDF soldiers on his Instagram, according to the New York Post video, declaring in the title that it’s “hunting season.”
Rutgers, the Biden White House and the Department of Education did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
