Claiming that the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a hotbed of antisemitic hostility and that administrators have failed to take action against the discrimination, harassment, and violent attacks on Jewish students, the Anti-Defamation League on Thursday filed a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Education.
The filing comes six months after a student was arrested and banned from campus for allegedly assaulting a Jewish student and vandalizing an Israeli flag at a campus demonstration in solidarity with people killed and kidnapped in Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7.
During the alleged assault on Nov. 3, Efe Ercelik allegedly gave demonstrators the middle finger and cursed at Dylan Jacobs, called him a Zionist, and took a small Israeli flag from him, spit on it, and vandalized it with a knife, witnesses said.
Advertisement
University officials were quick to condemn the attack but did little beyond that internally and have failed to properly discipline Ercelik or “stop the normalization of antisemitism on campus,” according to the 14-page complaint to the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights filed jointly by the ADL and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law.
“Even after a violent antisemitic assault on campus, UMass has done nothing to make Jewish students feel safe and, infuriatingly, this assault is the tip of the iceberg — part of a persistent pattern of enabling hate against Jews,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s chief executive and national director, in a statement. “This is a textbook example of an administration that is deliberately indifferent and negligent — the US Department of Education must intervene immediately.”
A spokesperson for the university disputed the suggestion that school officials have failed in their response to the violent attack.
“The alleged assailant was immediately arrested and barred from campus (and remains barred from campus); the legal and conduct processes are active and have been since the moment of the arrest,” spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski said Thursday in an email. “By policy, the University’s conduct process is confidential — we cannot discuss any active cases, including whether the facts presented in this filing are accurate.”
Advertisement
Ercelik has pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and single counts of larceny, vandalism, assault and battery to intimidate, and disorderly conduct, online court records show. His next hearing in Eastern Hampshire District Court is scheduled for May 29.
Blaguszewski said the school has not been notified that the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating this complaint but “should it decide to open an investigation,” the university will cooperate fully.
Last month, the Globe reported that UMass Amherst is facing two separate investigations by the Office for Civil Rights — one alleging anti-Jewish discrimination and another alleging anti-Palestinian discrimination.
Since Jacobs’s alleged assault at the conclusion of a November gathering organized by UMass Hillel and called “Bring Them Home: Solidarity Walk and Installation,” school officials have held one hearing on the matter, two weeks ago, according to the complaint.
The administration has “dragged its feet, ignored requests from Mr. Jacobs to investigate the matter, and shuffled Mr. Jacobs from administrator to administrator,” according to the complaint.
As a result of the university’s inaction, Jacobs “has not felt safe on campus,” the complaint said.
“Mr. Jacobs has lost faith in the ability of UMass-Amherst Administration’s to keep Jewish students safe, knowing that fellow students may publicly punch several Jewish students and not face a single swift consequence from the Administration,” according to the complaint.
Advertisement
The festering environment of antisemitic harassment at the university is “untenable,” the complaint said, and “indicates the strong need for oversight and intervention.”
“It is no wonder antisemitic protesters continue to block entrances and exits to buildings, call for violence against Jews, harass and intimidate Jewish students, disrupt events and spew antisemitic conspiracy theories,” Kenneth L. Marcus, chair of the Brandeis Center, said in a statement.
“Following the law, holding perpetrators accountable and issuing consequences is not rocket science,” Marcus said. “It’s beyond shameful that we have to call in the Department of Education to get a school to address a violent antisemitic assault and ensure other students aren’t similarly attacked.”
The complaint seeks remedies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including a public statement condemning antisemitic hostility and mandatory antisemitic training for administrators, faculty, students, and staff, as well as a series of measures to secure the safety of Jewish students at UMass.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
