Emory University under federal investigation over alleged anti-Muslim discrimination

ATLANTA - The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened an investigation into Emory University over allegations of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian activity at the college.

In April, the Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Georgia) and Palestine Legal filed a civil rights complaint against the Atlanta university on behalf of Emory Students for Justice in Palestine.

In the 18-page complaint, the groups claim that Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students have endured "months of severe discrimination, harassment, and intimidation."

Included in the lawsuit are allegations that students have been called "terrorists" and "fake Muslims" and members of the ESJP group have been "individually targeted and dozed on social media and harassed on campus."

CAIR-Georgia and Palestine Legal had previously sent a letter to Emory University administrators in January saying that the groups were seriously concerned the school was violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin, over its failure to protect its students.

MORE: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations resume at Emory University: Counter-protesters clash on campus

The complaint also alleges that students have submitted multiple reports using Emory's bias incident reporting process but have not seen any action by the university on the majority of the claims.

"Emory’s deafening silence and absolute failure to protect its Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students and provide them with the same learning environment as other students on campus over the last six months has prompted us to now turn to the Department of Education for recourse," CAIR-Georgia legal director's Javeria Jamil said in a statement. "We hope that this complaint will result in an investigation into Emory’s complacency and complicity with the growing Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian environment and bring justice and accountability for the Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab students," 

MORE: Emory University president 'devastated' by arrests of students, staff on campus

Emory University's response to pro-Palestinian protests

The Department of Education's investigation, which was confirmed by a spokesperson from the Department of Education, comes less than a week after Atlanta police officers and Georgia State Troopers police arrested dozens of people, including 20 Emory students and staff members, following a pro-Palestine protest in the school's quadrangle encampment on Emory's campus.

Emory officials said the protesters who had set up an encampment were trespassing on private property and refused to leave, leading the school to ask the Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Patrol for assistance.

The officers used Tasers and pepper balls to bring the crowd under control. Several people were placed in handcuffs and loaded into vans. 

MORE: Emory protests: Faculty holding no-confidence vote against president after arrests

Video circulated widely on social media shows two women who identified themselves as professors being detained, with one of them slammed to the ground by one officer as a second officer then pushes her chest and face onto a concrete sidewalk. 

Originally, the school claimed that the group were activists who were not connected with Emory, with a spokesperson claiming that the protesters were "attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals." Emory President Gregory L. Fenves backtracked from that claim days later, saying it "was not fully accurate."

In the days following the arrests, tensions have remained high at the university with multiple protests and counter-protests popping up on campus.

Pro-Palestine protests across the country

Along with Emory, the federal agency will also investigate claims of anti-Muslim discrimination at Columbia University in New York City, CAIR said.

In recent weeks, police have arrested nearly 2,200 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings. One officer accidentally discharged his gun inside a Columbia University administration building while clearing out protesters camped inside, authorities said.

No one was injured by the officer’s mistake late Tuesday inside Hamilton Hall on the Columbia campus, the NYPD said Thursday. He was trying to use the flashlight attached to his gun at the time and instead fired a single round that struck a frame on the wall.

More than 100 people were taken into custody during the Columbia crackdown, just a fraction of the total arrests stemming from recent campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. A tally by The Associated Press recorded at least 56 incidents of arrests at 43 different U.S. colleges or universities since April 18.

Israel has branded the protests antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, protest organizers — some of whom are Jewish — call it a peaceful movement to defend Palestinian rights and protest the war.

President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right of students to peaceful protest but decried the disorder of recent days.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.