The Cleveland and Northern Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has filed a civil rights complaint against Case Western Reserve University, accusing the school of discriminating against Palestinian students and their supporters.
The complaint urges the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the university based on alleged unfair treatment of students involved in pro-Palestinian protests on campus, arguing they’ve been “intimidated, silenced and punished.”
“This comes after many failed attempts to meet with (CWRU) President Kaler about the unfair treatment and targeting of the university’s Palestinian students and allies," CAIR-Ohio Executive Director Faten Husni Odeh said in a statement. "Instead of fostering an inclusive and welcoming learning environment, the leadership of Case Western Reserve University created an openly hostile atmosphere for students standing up against brutality and genocide. Had the administration been more interested in its students rather than an oppressive and violent foreign regime, we could’ve avoided this action.”
Dozens of students participated in an encampment protest on campus for about two weeks in the spring, joining others across the country in protests calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for universities to divest from Israel. The university had initially detained 21 protesters but later released them, allowing the protest to continue. Not long after the encampment ended, the university said it sent out letters warning of possible discipline to about 75 students, who were “identified as taking part in the unsanctioned encampment on the university’s private property, vandalism and disruption to campus operations,” Ideastream has previously reported.
"Alarmingly, students who were not even present in the encampment were similarly sanctioned — simply for appearing Palestinian. A student received one of these notices after simply wearing a 'keffiyeh,' a traditional Palestinian scarf, to class," the complaint alleges. "CWRU solely banned this student based on their affiliation with the Palestinian identity, not conduct.
The university suspended the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine earlier this year, which organized the protest. In 2022, Kaler blasted a resolution drafted by the undergraduate student government asking the university to consider divesting as anti-Semitic.
On Tuesday, the university in a statement argued it has consistently supported students' and staff's right to protest in accordance with its freedom of expression policy.
"Our staff members have worked — and will continue to work — with those members of the Case Western Reserve community who wish to express their ideas in line with this policy, including through the appropriate time, place and manner for such protest or expressive activity," the statement reads. "While we work to uphold the critical importance of freedom of expression, we remind our community that constructive dialogue should never involve hate speech, intimidation or behavior that threatens others. Compliance with university policies helps ensure we provide all members of our community with the safe, welcoming environment for which Case Western Reserve is known."
The complaint, filed with the Cleveland Office for Civils Rights in the U.S. Department of Education Monday, also alleges the university deliberately targeted Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students for harassment with public statements and ignored two counter-protesters who "repeatedly called the students Islamic and Palestinian terrorists, Hamas, suicide bombers, killers, rapists, Jew-haters, and criminals."
The complaint alleges the university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on "race, color or national origin" in education programs receiving federal funding. It seeks a public apology from the CWRU administration as well as halting any "discriminatory investigations" of the students, among other promises to change how it treats Palestinian students on campus.
