Temple joins universities facing federal probe over handling of antisemitism allegations
Temple said it would fully comply with the investigation and “unequivocally condemns hate and discrimination against any person.”
Temple University has become the latest local college to face a federal probe over its handling of antisemitism complaints on campus.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights this week included the North Philadelphia university on its list of open investigations for discrimination allegations over failure to handle complaints about antisemitism and Islamophobia.
The department did not specifically say why it was investigating Temple, but the editor-in-chief of Campus Reform, an Arlington, Va.-based national conservative news website focused on higher education, had filed a complaint against Temple, alleging that “Jewish students are increasingly unwelcome, unsafe, and discriminated against,” according to an article on the Campus Reform website. The news was reported on this week by Temple News, the university’s student newspaper. Campus Reform also published part of a letter it received from the department, specifying that it would investigate.
Temple University said in a statement Wednesday that it would fully comply with the investigation and that it “unequivocally condemns hate and discrimination against any person and will always strive to ensure that all of our students, faculty, and staff feel welcomed and safe in our community and throughout our campus.
» READ MORE: After protesters chant ‘from the river to the sea,’ Temple law school warns about disrupting class
“As this situation evolves, the university will continue to adapt, ensuring that all members of this community have access to the support and resources that they need.” said Steve Orbanek, a Temple spokesperson.
Drexel and Rutgers Universities and Lafayette and Muhlenberg Colleges in the Lehigh Valley also are on the department’s list of nearly 100 open investigations into colleges and K-12 schools for alleged discrimination involving shared ancestry, including antisemitism or Islamophobia, about half of which began to surface following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the country’s subsequent military response.
The University of Pennsylvania also had been on the list, but the federal education department on Jan. 2 told Penn it had dismissed the case because a lawsuit with the same allegations was filed in federal court. The relief sought, the department said, is the same as would be provided if the department found a violation.
» READ MORE: U.S. Department of Education investigates Penn, Lafayette, over antisemitism and Islamophobia allegations
Penn’s former president Liz Magill resigned last month after an uproar over her congressional testimony about the handling of antisemitism on campus. The university for months has been dealing with tensions, starting with the Palestine Writes Literary Festival held on campus in September, which some critics said included speakers with a history of making antisemitic remarks. A donor backlash ensued, with calls for Magill and former board chair Scott L. Bok to resign.
Penn was among many universities nationwide facing pressure to respond to the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
» READ MORE: Brandeis Center files federal discrimination complaint against Penn over handling of antisemitism
Temple, too, has been the site of demonstrations by pro-Palestinian groups, as well as those supporting Israel. At its law school in October, some students engaging in a walkout in support of Palestinians shouted as they left the classroom “from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” — a sentiment that some have used as a rallying cry for the destruction of Israel. The law school held a four-hour Zoom meeting with students and issued a statement, clarifying that although free speech is permitted and supported on campus, conduct that disrupts a classroom is not.
Some law school students told The Inquirer at the time that they were unnerved by what happened and wanted more action by the school.
The complaint by Campus Reform editor-in-chief Zachary Marschall asserts that “the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ supports the expulsion, and even genocide, of Israel’s Jewish inhabitants,” according to Campus Reform. Other people, however, have said the phrase is merely a call for permanent statehood and an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
» READ MORE: Antisemitic incidents have soared in Philly — but counting pro-Palestinian rallies draws rebuke
The article in Campus Reform also cited other phrases allegedly shouted during demonstrations that students participated in, including “Gaza, Gaza you will rise, Palestine will never die” and during a protest outside Goldie, a Center City falafel shop with Israeli owners, “Goldie, Goldie you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”
The education department’s Office of Civil Rights is overseeing the probes, but has not provided a timeline on the work. When the department receives a complaint, it evaluates whether it is subject to further processing and whether it can investigate, according to the office’s website. But deciding to investigate “in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to the merits of the complaint,” the office states.
In announcing the first round of investigations in November, the department said schools that do not address the office’s findings could lose their federal funding.
“Hate has no place in our schools, period,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in November. “When students are targeted because they are — or are perceived to be — Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn.”