7
Right to Equal Treatment
Today , overt and obvious discrimination against Jews by universities is rare . Universities no longer have official admission quotas that formally limit the number of Jewish students . Nor do universities generally permit formal discrimination in the classroom or campus life . But individual professors or university administrators may still disfavor Jewish students in more subtle ways . For example :
A university might deny funding to a Jewish student group even though funding is available to other similar groups based on the belief that Jewish students will be more able to fundraise from outside resources .
A professor might bar Jewish students from his / her / their seminar on the Middle East in the belief that Jewish students ’ ties to Israel will polarize classroom discussion .
A university might offer accommodations to other ethnic or religious minorities , for instance by exempting Muslim students from exams on their holidays , while failing to do the same for Jewish students .
Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , any ( public or private ) university that receives federal funding must treat its students equally regardless of their sex , race , or national origin . Almost all colleges and universities do accept such funding . While Title VI does not list religion as a protected classification , the U . S . Department of Education ’ s Office for Civil Rights has explained that Title VI protects students who are discriminated against or harassed based on their actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic identity as Jews . In other words , because for many Jews Judaism is not only ( or even primarily ) a religious identity