San Diego State University is under federal investigation for alleged “Islamophobia” in the wake of SDSU President Adela de la Torre’s condemnation of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and statement of support for impacted members of the campus community.
The U.S. Department of Education has not discussed the merits of the complaint from unidentified complainants, only that the complaint has come under its jurisdiction.
SDSU officials confirmed that it received notice from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on Tuesday regarding a complaint that the university discriminated against Islamic, Arab and/or Palestinian students by sending an all-campus email on Oct. 9.
The complaint alleges that the email “promoted hate and racism against Arabs and Muslims.”
In a response this week, the school said the email “does not promote hate or racism.”
SDSU President Adela de la Torre and Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity Christy Samarkos signed the Oct. 9 email in question.
Their email said in part:
Throughout this weekend and today, SDSU has been in direct communication with dozens of impacted community members after the horrific reports of killings and kidnappings following the Hamas attacks on Israel during Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, a major Jewish holy day. What is being reported is heartbreaking. We have heard from SDSU community members who have family, close friends and colleagues in the region. Many have spent several terrifying days praying for their safety. Some have not had those prayers answered. We cannot express to you the depths of emotion and anguish we have felt and encountered since Saturday.
We are grieving for all those who are suffering in the wake of this outburst of violence. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any act of violence, especially those against innocent civilians. We are deeply struck by the sheer scale of the loss of life — of innocent Israelis, Palestinians, and countless others.
We also recognize that this follows a long history of loss of life of civilians in this region. It is our utmost priority that SDSU respond by setting a different tone — one of compassion, learning and dialogue and, above all, empathy for what our campus community may be experiencing. To be sure — understanding that the events from this weekend will affect members of our diverse campus in different ways, we are writing to share our encouragement to utilize the support services available to all our students, faculty and staff.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency earlier reported that on Oct. 13, the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine said in a statement that SDSU “has failed to acknowledge the emotions and well-being of its Palestinian and Muslim students.”
That statement, co-signed by more than a dozen groups, added that it is “DEMANDING” that de la Torre “reassess this hateful and divisive rhetoric being spewed all over campus.”
A university spokesperson told Campus Reform that school safety professionals have been in contact and offered support and resources to those impacted, including members of the campus Islamic, Arab and Palestinian communities.
(Campus Reform said the Department of Education would not comment further on pending investigations.)
“Student Affairs and Campus Diversity team members have and continue to reach out to individual students, advisors and student organizations who have been impacted by the violence in Israel and Gaza,” the SDSU statement continued.
“Staff have provided resources, including letters to students and to their faculty about the challenges they are experiencing through our CARES (Campus Assistance, Response, Evaluation and Support) Team.”
The school added that administrators have also consulted with members of the Islamophobia SWANA/MENA (Southwest Asian And North African/ Middle East North Africa) Task Force at SDSU, “one that was established to create recommendations for collecting and disaggregating data for Muslim and SWANA/MENA students, faculty and staff; identify opportunities to improve campus climate; and to also provide recommendations on how SDSU can develop community and a sense of belonging for the Muslim and SWANA/MENA community.”
The school, the spokesperson said, relies on reports from SDSU community members to report any instances of harassment and discrimination and encourage students, as well as faculty and staff, to use SDSU’s online reporting tools to report issues quickly, and also rely on the support services on campus.
Elsewhere in the United States and Canada, other controversies stem from the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.
Hailie Soifer, the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America issued a statement that “denying the rapes of Israelis harms all women.”
JDCA has scheduled a webinar at 9 a.m. PT Wednesday, Jan. 10 “to discuss Hamas’s sexual violence and how the subsequent silence from international organizations hurts women around the world.”
Panelists will be Dahlia Lithwick, a senior editor at Slate; Mimi Rocah, the district attorney for Westchester County, N.Y.; and Jen Rubin, a columnist with the Washington Post.
Meanwhile, the Lawfare Project and Diamond Lawyers have filed a $77 million class action lawsuit against McMaster University in Ontario and the McMaster Student Union on behalf of Jewish students.
“Jewish students at McMaster University have suffered psychological turmoil due to faculty praising the October 7th attacks in Israel and exposure to antisemitic rhetoric at rallies on campus,” said the Lawfare Project.
“A vigil by Jewish student groups was recently moved to a secret location due to safety concerns. In a related issue, a McMaster teaching assistant supported the public display of a swastika outside Canada’s Parliament Hill. The occurrences in question have exacerbated existing antisemitic sentiments on the campus, an issue that has persisted for several years.”
Brooke Goldstein, founder and Executive Director of The Lawfare Project, said: “Unfortunately, the hatred toward the Jewish community, which dramatically increased after October 7, continues to be prevalent on college and university campuses, including McMaster.
“This lawsuit seeks to establish and enforce effective and enduring measures to guarantee a safe, supportive, and tolerant educational setting for all students, irrespective of their race, religion, or ethnicity. The Lawfare Project is proud to support Diamond and Diamond’s impact litigation, which aims to effectuate the systemic change needed to secure the civil rights of the Jewish community in Canada.”
The anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, which staged a demonstration at the Capitol in Sacramento on the first day of the new legislative session “to demand an immediate permanent ceasefire in Gaza,” said some 500 demonstrators included “rabbis, children of Holocaust survivors, Israeli-Americans, teachers and health care workers and many more community members.”
Lisa Rodel of San Francisco, a board member of JVP, said the organization represents “thousands of Jewish people from over California who oppose the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign.”
Rep. Barbara Lee is in a race for the U.S. Senate against fellow Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter as well as Republican hopeful Steve Garvey, the former Los Angeles Dodger and San Diego Padre.
Lee has joined Rep. Rashida Tlaib in saying there is an “urgent need for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.”
Tlaib is the only Palestinian-American in Congress.
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World, a member of the San Diego Online News Association. A version of this report first appeared on his online site.
