A federal civil rights complaint alleges Jewish students at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt were advised to conceal their Jewish identity after anti-Israel activists pelted them with red paint, taunted them with antisemitic slurs and stole their property while administrators failed to protect them.
On Thursday, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a nonprofit Jewish advocacy organization, announced filing three federal civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education against academic entities in California.
In addition to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, the nonprofit filed complaints against Scripps College and the Etiwanda School District.
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The complaints, filed alongside several Jewish advocacy groups, allege that the entities violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing such hostile environments to develop and failing to take steps to address it “promptly and effectively.”
“While an increasing number of schools recognize that their Jewish students are being targeted both for their religious beliefs and due to their ancestral connection to Israel, and are taking necessary steps to address both classic and contemporary forms of anti-Semitism, some shamefully continue to turn a blind eye,” Brandeis Center Chairman Kenneth L. Marcus said in a statement provided to The Christian Post.
“The law and federal government recognize Jews share a common faith and they are a people with a shared history and heritage rooted in the land of Israel,” Marcus continued. “Schools that continue to ignore either aspect of Jewish identity are becoming dangerous breeding grounds for escalating anti-Jewish bigotry, and they must be held accountable.”
One of the incidents cited in the complaint against Cal Poly Humboldt occurred in October 2024 after the Chabad student group received approval to set up a table to honor the victims of the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Anti-Israel students allegedly assembled 20 feet away from the Jewish students’ table even though they did not receive prior approval to protest. The demonstrators drew a chalk circle around the Jewish students’ table. They wrote “zio corner,” which the complaint noted is an antisemitic code word popularized by the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
The anti-Israel protesters used a megaphone to disrupt the Chabad group’s event, which is a violation of school policy. According to the filing, university administrators who were present and witnessed the protesters’ actions did not attempt to intervene.
Protesters also threw red paint on the administrative building while screaming “blood of the martyrs.” Several of them threw paint on Jewish students, the complaint states.
A faculty advisor witnessed the demonstrators throw paint at the Jewish students, but the staff member did not intervene. Several Jewish students asked the school’s administrators to call the police, but they refused, according to the filing.
Another incident involved the theft of an etrog, a ritual item used during the Jewish festival of Sukkot. After members of the Chabad group reported the incident to the dean of students, the administration suggested that the students disassemble the Sukkot display each night.
“By telling Jewish students who complained of anti-Semitism to hide evidence of their Jewish identity, the university not only dismissed the Jewish students’ concerns, it also shirked its responsibility to take prompt and effective action to address anti-Semitic incidents on its campus,” the civil rights complaint stated.
Other instances of harassment cited in the filing involved vandals spray painting the glass doors to Forbes Gymnasium on Nov. 2, 2024, with various slurs, including “KKK = IDF.” During a Chabad student group event a few days later, a protester stood outside with a sign equating Jews to Nazis.
In response to an inquiry from CP, a spokesperson for California State Polytechnic University said that the institution is reviewing the federal civil rights complaint, promising that the school would cooperate with the Office of Civil Rights in any investigation.
“Hatred or discrimination in any form, including anti-semitism, is contrary to our core values. The University unequivocally condemns all acts of hatred, bigotry, and violence, and we are committed to keeping safe our students, staff, and faculty of all religions,” the spokesperson stated. “We will continue to work together to foster a learning and working environment where we can all feel safe, included, and respected.”
The complaint against Scripps College alleges a student-run coffeehouse on campus discriminated against Jews while regularly hosting meetings for anti-Israel groups. Additionally, the plaintiffs allege the coffeehouse refused to hire a “Zionist” and refused to allow a vigil for the victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack when the coffeehouse closed for an entire day to honor a Hezbollah terrorist.
Scripps College and did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.
The complaint against Etiwanda described the antisemitic harassment and bullying of a 12-year-old Jewish student, which began one afternoon during a district after-care program. The victim, referred to as “Student A” in the filing, was struck with a stick by another student outdoors on school grounds.
Student A attempted to walk away, but the other student proceeded to hit the girl barehanded. When the Jewish girl called out for the beating to stop, she was told to “shut [her] stupid Jewish ass up.” She was then pinned against a table and choked before managing to escape.
According to the complaint, the girl continued to face harassment based on her Jewish identity, but the school failed to discipline the perpetrators properly and prevent similar incidents.
Charlayne Sprague, Etiwanda School District superintendent, told CP that the district condemns antisemitism “in all its forms.”
“Etiwanda is committed to taking all necessary actions, including discipline where appropriate, to address and ameliorate discrimination and harassment based on actual or perceived Jewish shared ancestry or ethnicity,” the superintendent stated. “Anti-Semitic bullying, harassment, and targeting of Jewish students because of their Jewish ancestral and ethnic identity is contrary to Etiwanda’s institutional values and nondiscrimination and conduct codes and is unacceptable.”
The news of the complaints follows the U.S. Education Department’s announcement of an investigation into Columbia University’s federal contracts over its handling of anti-Israel protests on campus.
On Friday, the education department, whose staffers are part of the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, announced that it would cancel approximately $400 million in federal grants to Columbia University.
The task force said it made the decision “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
