A group of Jewish students at the University of Hawaii have filed a Title VI complaint with the federal government claiming that words and acts of antisemitism have made the university’s Manoa campus an “unsafe and hostile environment” for them.
The Jan. 17 complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which enforces Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act protects all students from discrimination based on race, color or national origin in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from the department.
Complaints to the federal agency about hateful rhetoric on campuses around the nation have spiked since the outbreak of violence in Israel and Gaza beginning in October.
Mason Russo, a doctoral candidate at UH who serves as director of Hillel Hawaii, a campus group for Jewish students, said by email that the complaint was filed by him and other, unnamed students “as a result of the constant antisemitism and anti-Israel incidents on campus that cross the line of free speech.”
The complaint accuses certain faculty and students of praising attacks on the people of Israel and that the expressions were made in classrooms, at faculty meetings and public rallies, and online. It also criticizes UH President David Lassner for refusing to condemn Hamas.
In the portion of the complaint that asks for desired remedies, the group wrote, in part, “We want the University of Hawaii at Manoa to be a place where antisemitism does not take place in the classroom, and for faculty to not advocate for the elimination of Israel or support terror organizations in their classrooms.”
A spokesperson for the university said Friday that the administration had just received the complaint and is reviewing it. “UH takes any reports of discrimination and/or harassment of students and/or employees very seriously,” Dan Meisenzahl, director of the UH Office of Communications, said via email.
Lassner told the UH
Board of Regents at a
Nov. 16 meeting that while he had “variously faced calls to condemn the actions of Hamas on Oct. 7 or the Israeli response, I again choose not to do so.” He said his primary concern is the safety and well-being of the UH community.
Lassner added that “we cannot suppress the free speech or the academic freedom on our campuses, and nor will I try to shout anyone out with my own voice. But we can do our best to help our community feel supported and safe in this really complex environment that includes others expressing opposing positions in ways that do have hurtful impacts.”
