What’s New
The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed a lawsuit last week against the U.S. Department of Education, demanding the release of all guidance it has given to colleges on how to fight discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin.
The free-speech advocacy group believes the federal agency has been privately instructing college administrators on how they should respond to campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war.
“Some universities seem to be under the impression that they are under an obligation to suppress speech protected under the First Amendment,” said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute.
The department, the institute alleges, has denied several requests to make public parts of its guidance to colleges since the start of the war.
The Department of Education declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The Details
Since the onset of the war, the Office for Civil Rights has opened more than 90 Title VI investigations into alleged antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents on campus, including during antiwar demonstrations, inside the classroom, and on social media.
In May, the Department of Education told colleges in a guidance letter that Title VI did not require college administrators to “restrict any rights otherwise protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
“The fact that harassment may involve conduct that includes speech in a public setting or speech that is also motivated by political or religious beliefs, however, does not relieve a school of its obligation to respond under Title VI if the harassment creates a hostile environment in school for a student or students,” the department added.
The department told colleges that they should communicate their “opposition to stereotypical, derogatory opinions; provide counseling and support for students affected by harassment.”
The Knight First Amendment Institute believes the Department of Education might have then gone further and privately told administrators to bring a stop to demonstrations that are otherwise protected under the First Amendment.
The institute filed a Freedom of Information Act request in July with the department, demanding that the agency release emails, training materials, or presentations it gave to individual colleges regarding ways to comply with Title VI following Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel.
The Education Department denied the expedited request in early August. The institute resubmitted the request on September 4, which it did not receive a response to, prompting the lawsuit.
The Stakes
The institute points to two examples it believes violated protesters’ free-speech rights.
In April, the University of Southern California canceled its valedictorian’s commencement speech, citing her pro-Palestinian positions, which the university said would draw too large a crowd for campus public safety to manage. The institute believes USC bowed to pro-Israel groups that objected to the valedictorian’s political position.
And earlier this fall, the University of Maryland at College Park banned all student-led “expressive events” planned for the October 7 anniversary of the attacks on Israel.
“The public should have a full picture of what universities’ obligations are under Title VI,” Jaffer said.
