UC Davis, Sacramento State being investigated for alleged civil rights violations. Here’s why
The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights is investigating multiple incidents of alleged discrimination on the basis of ancestry or national origin at UC Davis and Sacramento State campuses.
The OCR is investigating two alleged violations of the Civil Rights Act on the UC Davis campus amid student tension surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, according to letters obtained by The Sacramento Bee dated last month. This is the third investigation of the last 10 months following a investigation into schools throughout the country in December.
The OCR is also pursuing an investigation into Sacramento State, according to a separate investigation letter dated July 10. Sacramento State officials did not immediately respond when asked for details.
The first OCR letter to UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May dated June 11 follows a complaint of alleged discrimination against students on the basis of their Jewish ancestry or Israeli national origin.
The second letter, dated June 21, followed a complaint of alleged discrimination against students based on their perceived national origin — shared Palestinian, Arab and/or Muslim ancestry — or association with Palestinian Students.
Both complaints alleged the university failed “to respond adequately to incidents of harassment of these students,” according to the letters.
Throughout the spring semester, pro-Palestinian protests occurred throughout the University of California system.Some became violent and led to arrests, including at UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine and UCLA. The unrest led to roughly 48,000 graduate students of United Auto Workers Local 4811 walking off their jobs as part of a system-wide strike alleging the state university system’s violation of free speech.
Students and community members at UC Davis established an encampment in the Memorial Quad in the spring protesting the war in Gaza and Israel’s military attacks during the Israel-Hamas war. There were multiple incidents involving counter protesters, including some which received attention from campus police, but there was no reported violence or arrests.
After negotiations with UC Davis officials, the encampment ended June 19 at the conclusion of the spring quarter with school officials not complying with the encampment’s demands. Demands for May to resign from his position at the school or his board position at Leidos, a military technology firm that calls itself an “embedded partner” of Israel went unmet.
The Davis Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine (PULP), the leaders of the encampment, wrote their decision to decamp was “due to obstruction by the UC President of Regents of the signing of a pre-existing draft agreement between UCD administrators and PULP protestors.”
