On March 18, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) opened a Title VI shared ancestry investigation into Scripps College due to allegations of discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students. The investigation followed both the Feb. 24 Brandeis Center lawsuit against Scripps and the “failing” ranking of the college’s responses to antisemitism by the Anti-Defamation League.
President Donald Trump’s Jan. 29 executive order, titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” prompted the investigations. The order outlined his administration’s plan to eradicate “anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on university and college campuses.”
Scripps President Amy Marcus-Newhall stated in an email to the college community on March 19 that the college intends to “[cooperate] in the investigation process and welcomes the opportunity to respond.”
She also noted that the college received notice of the investigation on March 14, and that the OCR’s investigation was initiated in response to a complaint filed against Scripps by an “outside entity,” which is alleged to be the Brandeis Center.
Currently, 158 institutions are under open Title VI shared ancestry investigations by OCR, including Pomona College, whose investigation began in August 2024. Various educational levels and school districts, as well as individual schools, are featured on the list.
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, shared ancestry discrimination refers to prejudicial treatment or harassment based on one’s shared ancestral heritage or ethnicity, which includes religion. OCR claims to “vigilantly enforce … federal civil rights laws in schools and other recipients of Department of Education funding throughout the nation.”
Despite the allegations, assertions of antisemitism at Scripps have been met with some disagreement. Sarah Gilbert, an associate professor of art at Pitzer College, criticized the investigation in an email to TSL.
“Trump’s recent attacks on higher education are themselves deeply rooted in antisemitism, and the notion that the Trump administration is doing any of this to protect Jewish students should be patently absurd to anyone paying attention,” Gilbert wrote.
Commenting on parallels between Scripps and other institutions recently threatened by the Trump administration, Gilbert noted that the attacks on higher education set a precedent for negatively impacting “intersectional solidarities across oppressed groups.”
Gilbert claimed that while she and fellow professors want their students to feel safe, some Jewish students may not feel safe when they observe anti-Zionist speech on campus; however, Gilbert maintained that those feelings do not dictate whether protest activity is inherently antisemitic
“Most examples of supposedly widespread antisemitic speech on campus rely on deeply dehumanizing stereotypes of Palestinians as inherently violent, just as much of the rhetoric around the perceived threat of students wearing masks and/or keffiyehs reveals widespread Islamophobia,” Gilbert wrote.
Speaking to her Jewish identity as a professor, Gilbert emphasized that the Trump administration’s attacks on the rights of marginalized groups have worsened her feelings of safety and well-being, expressing a desire for the safety of all students while also working to maintain personal liberties.
“Presidents at Wesleyan and Princeton have already called for collective action to protect free speech and academic freedom,” Gilbert wrote. “We should do everything we can to urge our Claremont Colleges administrations to join them.”
Facebook Comments