U.S. Education Department Notifies Princeton of Bias Complaint

Princeton said that the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights notified the University in early April about a complaint related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin. Zachary Marschall, editor of the conservative website Campus Reform, wrote that he’d filed the complaint, which alleges Princeton failed to respond to antisemitic chants at campus protests.

“Based on our familiarity with events on our campus and other information available to us, we are confident we are in full compliance with the requirements of Title VI,” Michael Hotchkiss, a University spokesman, told PAW in a statement that also noted the complainant “is not a member of the University community.” 

The University statement cited Princeton’s policies encouraging free expression and mutual respect. “While disciplinary approaches are not always applicable given the University’s robust commitment to freedom of expression, the University has responded to every complaint of bias against Jewish community members brought to its attention and continues to offer support,” Hotchkiss said.

According to Campus Reform, Marschall’s complaint referenced an Oct. 25 walkout at Princeton where protesters chanted “intifada” and “apartheid has got to fall” as an example of harassment of students on the basis of national origin.

While pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrations were widespread on college campuses in the weeks following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, many at Princeton felt that the University had avoided the type of inflammatory incidents that made headlines elsewhere.

“There has been rhetoric on Princeton’s campus, as on many campuses, that has been deeply disturbing to some in the Jewish community, who feel that such rhetoric could create a hostile environment to Jewish people who support Israel’s right to exist,” Rabbi Gil Steinlauf ’91 of the Center for Jewish Life told The Daily Princetonian in April. “My read on the campus climate at Princeton, however, is that such a climate of hostility has not taken over the campus in the way it has at other universities.”

A Department of Education spokesperson told PAW that “the department does not comment further on pending investigations.” According to the Office of Civil Rights website, there were 132 Title VI shared ancestry investigations active as of April 9, including five at Ivy League peers.