A complaint against UC Santa Cruz, alleging that the campus created a hostile environment for Jewish students, has been dismissed by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The investigation, opened in March 2011, focused on two events on campus where speakers were critical of Israeli policies, on two other talks that had been planned but never took place, and on several incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti.
After interviewing the complainant and other members of the UCSC community and conducting an extensive review of UCSC documents related to the complaint, OCR closed the entire complaint. The campus was informed that OCR had concluded its investigation in a letter received on August 19.
In its letter to the campus, OCR said it determined that the events described in the complaint "do not constitute actionable harassment" as alleged. OCR's investigation also determined that the campus "took prompt action to investigate ... and to remove the graffiti."
"This campus values the free and open expression of ideas, and we diligently safeguard our students' civil rights," UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal said. "We are, therefore, pleased that these allegations have been thoroughly investigated and dismissed."
For more information, please see the OCR letter to the campus.
