Lehigh Probed for 'Hostile' Campus for Jews, Israelis

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights announced Tuesday that it is investigating Lehigh University for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The investigation relates to "discrimination involving shared ancestry," according to the department. The department, which releases a list weekly of new investigations, does not state the specific allegations. JNS sought comment from Lehigh.

The StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice stated on Tuesday that the Education Department notified it that it was investigating the complaint that the membership organization filed on Feb. 27.

"We are proud of the courageous students who have come forward to share their experiences of anti-Jewish bigotry at Lehigh and who are taking action to hold the administration accountable to its obligations to protect its Jewish and Israeli students from harassment and discrimination based on their shared ancestry and national origin," stated Gadi Dotz, assistant director of the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice.

"We are hopeful that OCR's investigation will reward these students' efforts by requiring the Lehigh administration to take the necessary steps to remedy the hostile antisemitic climate on its campus."

Lehigh, a 160-year-old private research school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with an enrollment of more than 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students, is tied at No. 47 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of national universities.

The Lehigh administration and campus police have "failed to curb the increasingly hostile climate for Jewish and Israeli students on campus," StandWithUs and Alums for Campus Fairness wrote to the school on Jan. 8.

This JNS.org report was republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate.