The Biden administration on Thursday opened a probe into Lafayette College over alleged antisemitic discrimination.
The probe, first reported by CNN, is a part of investigations by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights into alleged antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents at seven schools. According to a Friday email sent to the campus community and signed by college President Nicole Hurd, the college is “fully cooperating” with the inquiry.
It is unclear what incident the government is investigating – a voicemail left with the Department of Education was not immediately returned. The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Scott Morse, the college’s assistant vice president for communications and marketing, as saying, “We do not know why the [Office of Civil Rights] decided to include the College in this investigation.”
A letter the college received from the government, quoted by Hurd in her email, read that “the College discriminated against students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) by failing to respond to incidents of harassment in October 2023.”
The email then referenced an incident that occurred last month in which a student held up a poster that read “from the river to the sea” at a pro-Palestine protest. Several hours after the protest, Hurd condemned the poster for having “antisemitic meaning” and promised that the incident would be “addressed through our bias incident accountability process.”
Alumni , 1993. • Nov 21, 2023 at 11:46 pm
The fact that the sign is held up at multiple protests throughout the nation with impunity is totally irrelevant. That sign calls for the dismantling of Israel, and the genocide of the Jewish people who live in israel. Plain and simple. I’m guessing that the student at lafayette did not know the implications of that sign and did not personally wish to dismantle Israel. Just a guess. However, the sign has come to mean a call for genocide. And the Jewish student who saw the sign was right to call it out. Jewish students throughout america have been harassed, intimidated, and occasionally been victims of violence. Many of these protestors operate with full immunity. At many of these protests, that sign appears right next to signs for “gas the Jews”, “we support Hamas”, calls for “we don’t want two states, we want 1948” i.e. we want a world with NO ISRAEl. Another shout out for the liquidation of Israel. As far as Israeli sovereignty between the Jordan river and the Sea…… absolutely israel has a right to that. It is the nation state of the Jewish people, yet 25% of all israeli citizens are non-Jews! It is a vibrant democracy with full civil rights for all its citizens. Israel is NOT “ethnically cleansed” of non-Jews. Calls for israeli sovereignty do NOT indicate a call for “ethnic cleansing” of non-Jews. I can explain more. I have personally studied israeli history (from both sides) for 23 years. Have read countless text books from both sides.
Conversely, a call for a “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” IS absolutely a call for the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Jews in “liberated Palestine”. The statement is blatantly racist and genocidal. The sign does NOT call to forge a new peaceful Palestinian nation where Jews continue to live. Absolutely NOT. The sign indicates a call to eradicate Israel and to commit genocide on the Jewish people. The essence of racism. Racist, harassing , and intimidating language used in a protest does NOT merit protection under the first amendment.
Lafayette was absolutely right to take this sign down.
I applaud Lafayette. Great job. I would bet that very few colleges in America would have behaved in this way. Very few.
I am proud of lafayette here. I am disappointed that Lafayette is being investigated here for antisemitism. Of course, I don’t know all the details of the report, but suffice it to say, it seems as if Lafayette did an amazing job here. Perhaps other details might surface to indicate otherwise, but hopefully not.
Alum ‘18 • Nov 17, 2023 at 9:51 pm
Is this for real? The college is being investigated for a student holding up a poster with a phrase commonly used in protests around the country while there have been blatantly Islamophobic and anti-Arab statements on YikYak? Celebration of violence against Palestinians? The Biden Admin is hellbent on losing the 2024 election and the Lafayette Administration on losing another generation of POC Alums. Shame!
Robert Steinberg • Nov 18, 2023 at 9:33 am
Irrelevant if the phrase is used in protests around the country…
“FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA”
It calls for the establishment of a State of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, erasing the State of Israel and its people.
Alum ‘18 • Nov 18, 2023 at 12:13 pm
Are you aware the Likud (Netanyahu’s party) platform also calls for only one Israeli sovereignty between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea? And some extremists in his government want every thing from the Nile (Egypt) to Euphrates (Iraq).
The River to sea phrase has multiple interpretations and the one used by the student did not mean complete erasure of an Israeli state whereas the Likud use of it leaves no room for interpretation. Anyone who denies the only solution is a just two state solution with respect for minorities in both is an enemy of peace and the safety of Jewish and Palestinian people.
Robert Steinberg • Nov 18, 2023 at 2:45 pm
Multiple interpretations..? Just like the German word “Heil” had different meanings, interpretations? We all know how that particular word ended up being used the most.
I’ll get back to you once Hamas is eradicated, hostages (should they still be alive) released and Netanyahu resigns…
Steve Golden '86 • Nov 22, 2023 at 11:15 am
The pro-Palestinian phrase ‘From the river to the sea’ certainly does NOT have multiple meanings. Its only meaning is the way that Hamas uses it: to have an Islamic land that is Judenrein (indeed, free of all infidels no matter what religion they profess). Asserting that it does, by the way, is a deconstructionist argument that gains sustenance from the fact that dissembling is permitted and honorable in Islam.
Your paraphrase from Hamas’ Charter regarding a putative Israeli desire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates River is another red herring and a lie, since Israel as a member state of the United Nations recognizes the existing boundaries of other nations. Moreover, it is irrelevant that a tiny number of Israelis may believe in a messianic idea of a ‘Greater Israel’ from Egypt to Iraq because those Israelis do not recognize the State of Israel and choose not to vote in elections.
Please do not insult the intelligence of readers by equating a genocidal movement called Hamas (read its Charter) with the secular, modern, democratic State of Israel (read its Declaration of Independence). The present right-wing Netanyahu government is problematic for many reasons – and may certainly be castigated for retarding the prospects of a two-state solution. Yet, non-Jewish citizens of Israel have existential rights enshrined in law, and in practice it is by far the most open and free society in the Middle East. The Muslim and Christian inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza are oppressed by two autocratic and immensely corrupt governing bodies – the PA and Hamas – that care absolutely nothing for their people who widely hate them and do not speak out for fear of their lives.