The University of Michigan and the City University of New York mishandled complaints of campus discrimination during widespread protests over the war in Gaza, the Department of Education said Monday.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights has launched dozens of investigations into anti-Semitism and anti-Arab discrimination as students have rallied and camped out in support of the Palestinians and called for their schools to withdraw from Israel.
The Michigan and New York cases were only the first to reach a conclusion. More are expected to be completed in the coming weeks and months as schools continue to grapple with the limits of free speech in academic settings.
Under the terms of the settlements announced Monday, schools must step up reporting complaints to the Office for Civil Rights and review training of employees, including campus police officers, about their obligations under federal law.
“Unfortunately, we have witnessed a series of deeply disturbing incidents in recent months,” said Education Minister Miguel Cardona. “There is no doubt that this is a difficult time for school communities across the country.”
“The recent commitments made by the University of Michigan and CUNY mark a positive step forward,” he said.
The Ministry of Education said that in some cases, the protests turned into a “hostile environment” for some students that schools failed to deal with.
In Michigan, the department said the university did little after a student reported being shouted at and accused of “supporting rape and murder” along with “terrorist friends” during a November pro-Palestinian rally.
The settlement with CUNY addressed nine complaints dating back to 2019 across its university system, including Hunter College, Baruch College, Queens College and the City University of New York School of Law.
The department cited an example in 2021 in which students and faculty members at Hunter disrupted an online class “by directing the scheduled class discussion to use class time to call for the decolonization of Palestine.” In its letter to CUNY, the department listed other complaints, including several dating back to Oct. 7, in which Palestinian students reported bullying and unequal treatment, such as the selective cancellation of pro-Palestinian events and the removal of pro-Palestinian flyers.
The department’s investigations fall under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on a student’s common ancestry or national characteristics.
The department generally does not comment on pending investigations, but has acknowledged that many of the recent investigations stem from complaints of anti-Semitism or anti-Arab harassment in schools across the country.
Criticism of how schools have balanced the goal of protecting speech with the safety and well-being of students has led to high-profile clashes between school administrators and Congress, the resignation of several university presidents, and infighting among faculty members at many schools.
In both cases finalized Monday, the department required schools to conduct a “climate assessment” survey by December 2025 “to assess the extent to which students and/or employees experience or witness racial discrimination and harassment , color and national origin,” to help the department measure progress.
