Portland’s Reed College has reached a settlement with the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and the Anti-Defamation League regarding a pair of complaints regarding Reed’s handling of antisemitic incidents on campus in 2023 and 2024.
The complaints, filed with the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1963, involved incidents including the smashing of a student’s mezuzah and, later, the throwing of rocks through the same student’s window, which struck the student in the head.
“Following a confidential and voluntary mediation process supported by OCR, and after months of dialogue and reflection,” a letter co-signed by Reed Board of Trustees Chair Deborah Kamali and President Audrey Bilger, “Reed College has reached a voluntary agreement with the complainants.”
In the settlement, the college has agreed to appoint a coordinator for Title VI compliance, to institute annual Title VI training for the entire campus community, considering the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism in its assessment of antisemitism complaints and training the college’s Bias Education and Response Team in that definition, among other steps. The annual training will pay “specific attention to antisemitism and Islamophobia-based discrimination,” the college’s FAQ page about the settlement explained; it continued to say that “the agreement recognizes that for many Jewish people, Jewish self-determination (often called ‘Zionism’) is integral to their religious, ancestral, or ethnic Jewish identity.”
“Antisemitism is a persistent and evolving form of hatred, and addressing it—alongside other forms of discrimination—requires sustained effort and collective responsibility,” Kamali and Bilger’s letter continued. “It requires attention, institutional accountability, and a willingness to listen, learn, and change. Ultimately, it will be up to our community to implement these commitments thoughtfully.”
“This is one of the most significant OCR campus anti-Semitism settlements under the current Administration, building on our prior settlements with Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley. It will create an excellent precedent for protecting Jewish students,” Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman and CEO of the Brandeis Center, said in a joint press release from the center and the ADL. “Reed College allowed anti-Semitism to fester, leading to a student being struck in the head with a rock. No institution should be the scene of that kind of violence. This settlement is what accountability looks like, and it shouldn’t be the exception, it should be the standard every school holds itself to before, not after, a student gets hurt.”
“After Jewish students were subjected to violent and persistent antisemitism on campus, we are pleased that Reed College has committed to meaningful, immediate, and long-term action to ensure that the civil rights of Jewish students on campus are protected and affirmed that antisemitism has no place on campus,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the ADL’s CEO and National Director, said in the release. “This outcome demonstrates how the Title VI process can work to effectively protect Jewish students.”
The release emphasized that the settlement requires Reed to “strengthen campus protest, masking, and campus access policies – including a ban on masking intended to evade identification; limits on demonstrations inside dormitories, and a prohibition on faculty cancelling class or otherwise incentivizing students to attend campus protests; and publish annual statements reaffirming the College’s commitment to combating anti-Semitism.”
The college’s progress will be monitored by an independent consultant, selected in consultation with the Brandeis Center and the ADL for a three-year appointment. The consultant will produce annual, publicly available reports about the college’s adherence to the settlement terms.
“This agreement represents an important step toward ensuring that Jewish and Israeli students at Reed College receive the same protections afforded to every other student under federal civil rights law. We are encouraged by Reed College’s commitment to meaningful institutional change and look forward to continuing our partnership as these reforms are implemented,” Greater Portland Hillel Executive Director Lisa Hendricks said in a press release from the organization.
The release continued to say, “The settlement also creates new opportunities for collaboration as Reed College works alongside Greater Portland Hillel and other community partners to implement the agreement. Greater Portland Hillel, which supports Jewish students at Reed College, looks forward to continuing to work closely with college leadership throughout implementation of the agreement, providing resources, educational programming, and support that help Jewish students thrive.”
“The Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council had met multiple times with [Bilger], encouraging her to take steps to combat antisemitism on campus. Additionally, we supported the Brandeis Center’s Title VI case, helping to arrange meetings with the impacted students,” Jewish Federation of Greater Portland President and CEO Marc Blattner said in his weekly “Marc’s Remarks” email two days after the settlement was announced. “We look forward to seeing Reed College implement these reforms and hope for positive days ahead for all Jewish students and every student.”
“Two thousand twenty-four on the Reed Campus was a very difficult one for many Jewish students, who described the climate there as ‘hostile.’ We were proud to have worked to support the Brandeis Center’s Title VI case against Reed because we felt at the time that the college was being unresponsive to antisemitism,” Federation Chief Community Relations and Public Affairs Officer Bob Horenstein told The Jewish Review. “It is our hope that the Reed administration will now take antisemitism seriously and effectively address issues that arise. As with other schools, we are prepared to be a resource to them.”
PHOTO: Reed College (Rockne Roll/Jewish Review file)