UChicago United For Palestine (UCUP) has filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), according to a September 25 press release by Palestine Legal, the legal organization representing UCUP. The complaint, filed on August 19, alleges that the University of Chicago “has reinforced the hostile anti-Palestinian environment by repeatedly engaging in different treatment of Palestinian students and their allies.”  

“Through lack of support and discriminatory enforcement of its policies, UChicago’s actions violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the complaint reads. 

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance”, which include most private colleges and universities. 

“Based on the facts described here,” the complaint continues, “we urge [the OCR] to conduct a systemic investigation into the University of Chicago for violating its obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”  

If the University’s conduct is found to be in violation of Title VI and it does not voluntarily resolve the issues, the complaint may be referred to the Department of Justice, and the University could lose access to federal education funds. At a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing last May, Secretary of Education Michael Cardona called that option the “last step” in dealing with Title VI complaints, stressing instead the importance of voluntary compliance.  

In a statement to the Maroon, the University affirmed its commitment to fostering an inclusive environment on campus and its prohibition of unlawful harassment and discrimination. 

“The University of Chicago values and welcomes students of all backgrounds. The University has worked over many years to build an inclusive environment in which everyone is free to participate in the life of the University, and we are proud of this ongoing commitment,” the statement read.  

“The University prohibits unlawful harassment and discrimination, takes allegations of such conduct seriously, and acts to prevent and address harassment and discrimination.” 

Rifqa Falaneh, the Michael Ratner Justice Fellow at Palestine Legal and the author of the complaint, spoke to the Maroon about her organization’s involvement and the support they are providing to UCUP throughout the legal process. Palestine Legal, a project of the nonprofit Tides Foundation, is a legal organization that supports causes related to the movement for Palestinian rights.  

“When we file Title VI complaints, discrimination complaints, it’s on behalf of students. And so this is only one mechanism that students have been going through to address the repression that they’re facing on campus,” Falaneh said. “We give [students] different types of legal support or legal avenues that they have, and this is just one, which is filing a complaint to the Office of Civil Rights.”  

In a press release shared by Palestine Legal with the Maroon in September, the organization also mentioned the University’s updating of policies surrounding on-campus protests, which now explicitly prohibit “staying overnight in outdoor structures on campus or in non-residential campus buildings.”  

The new policies were first shared with University students in a September 24 email from Interim Dean of Students in the University Michael Hayes. 

The complaint proceeds to list dozens of examples of the alleged “discriminatory enforcement” of University policies against pro-Palestine, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students, including “administrative sanctions, censorship, racial profiling of campus police, uneven enforcement of university policies, and usage of the disciplinary system to repress student activists.” 

Among the examples was the withholding of degrees from five pro-Palestine students for their involvement in the encampment or Institute of Politics occupation in May. Per University policy, students involved in ongoing disciplinary processes may not graduate until proceedings have concluded and any sanctions have been completed. All students received their degrees by the beginning of August, and disciplinary complaints against non-graduating students were dismissed.  

The complaint also cited the alleged racial profiling and UCPD surveillance of students in the days following the encampment raid. The complaint describes a scenario where a group of “majority visibly Muslim” students and community members on the main quad were watched by four separate UCPD officers and an Allied Security officer over the course of two hours as a Muslim graduate student in a hijab delivered her thesis presentation. Several attendees were repeatedly questioned by UCPD officers, who asked if they were students or members of the press.  

In addition to the examples provided, the filing includes photographs, social media posts, emails, and text messages as evidence of the allegations. Falaneh told the Maroon that the evidence was largely sourced from students and publicly available information. Several sections of the complaint are redacted to protect the identities of students involved. 

OCR policy states that a “complaint must be filed within 180 days of the date of the alleged discrimination unless OCR grants a waiver.” The complaint notes that some of the incidents included took place more than 180 days before the filing and requests a waiver of the requirement “wherever appropriate.”  

According to Falaneh, Palestine Legal has not received notice from the OCR that an investigation into the complaint has been opened, nor have they received communication from the University.   

When asked about the general timeline that OCR investigations follow, Falaneh said that there isn’t a set timeline for how long a civil rights complaint takes to be resolved.  

“We’ve had cases open up in less than a month. We’ve had cases take as long as a year, so it’s really up to OCR here…. The timeline just varies [on a] case by case basis, and so it could take months [or] it could take years from what we know,” Falaneh said.  

Despite the uncertain timeline, Falaneh expressed UCUP’s hope that the University engages in good faith with the process and resolves the issues raised in the complaint.  

“UChicago United is mainly hoping that UChicago will take meaningful steps to work with them in good faith in responding to the needs of what most students want,” Falaneh said.  

A student representative from UCUP declined to comment.