CWRU claims to uphold free expression and equity but has fostered a hostile environment for Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and allied students. The administration labeled pro-Palestinian chants as hate speech, erased protest messages, and did not intervene to protect students from contractors spraying students with paint during a demonstration. Peaceful protesters were reportedly arrested without cause, and harassment against Palestinian students went unaddressed. The university’s leadership repeatedly failed to investigate defamatory posters targeting activists. Restrictive new policies on free expression drew criticism from students and faculty, including unanimous opposition from the Law School faculty, who warned of risks to accreditation. A Title VI complaint filed by CAIR-Ohio highlights ongoing discrimination, exemplifying how CWRU undermines its stated values of free speech and inclusion.
CWRU is supposedly “committed to the freedom of speech, thought, expression, and assembly and guarantees all members of the CWRU community the fullest possible right to hold and express opinions, to speak and write, to listen, challenge, inquire and learn.” CWRU claims to provide “support with no strings attached” and that CWRU will support students regardless of whether they share the details of their experience, make a complaint against another person, or decide to participate in an investigation. Yet for Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, and those perceived to be Palestinian, Muslim, or Arab, the reality is a deeply hostile campus environment marked by differential treatment and discrimination.
At CWRU, Palestinian students reportedly said they are being treated unfairly and their experiences systematically disregarded by an administration that, far from upholding values of equity, seems to foster an atmosphere of bigotry and anti-Palestinian discrimination. As a result, CAIR-Ohio filed a Title VI complaint against Case Western Reserve University with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights citing the following allegations:
- On November 8, 2022, the Undergraduate Student Government at CWRU reportedly passed a resolution calling for divestment from corporations that support Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The next day, CWRU President Eric Kaler reportedly labeled the resolution “profoundly anti-Semitic” and misrepresented it as a threat to the Jewish community’s safety. After more than three months, President Kaler finally met with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and reportedly agreed to send a follow-up email to apologize for smearing the students —a promise yet to be fulfilled.
- On October 27, 2023, posters showing members of SJP as “puppets on strings” controlled by foreign groups were reportedly put up around the campus. Yet, CWRU chose not to investigate the matter seriously.
- In November 2023, Anthony Polito, CWRU’s Associate Director of Student Conduct, reportedly questioned SJP about their chants at a peaceful walkout they had organized on campus. Polito labeled their phrase “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free” as incitement to violence and hate speech, warning of potential disciplinary consequences for its future use and thereby reinforcing harmful anti-Palestinian stereotypes.
- On February 26, 2024, CWRU reportedly imposed an interim suspension on SJP without a hearing based on allegations related to the posting of Palestine-related flyers. Relating to the incident, one SJP member reportedly declared, “If the administration does not reinstate SJP, it marks a disturbing step backward for CWRU, echoing a darker era when anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia were unchecked on campus.”
- On April 29, 2024, students opposing the genocide of Palestinians set up an encampment on the CWRU campus to protest and urge divestment from Israel. On that same morning, the students were reportedly forcefully hand-cuffed, zip-tied, dragged off, arrested by campus police, and later released without charges. During the encampment, students were harassed by non-student individuals, and CWRU took no action to stop the harassment. CWRU suspended students who participated in the encampment in the spring and subsequently delayed their graduation. One student was reportedly required to write an essay as an apology for protesting for Palestinian human rights.
- On May 6, 2024, the administration at CWRU reportedly hired contractors to paint over messages supporting Palestinian rights that had been written on walls designated for student expression and the promotion of upcoming events. Early the following day, contractors reportedly sprayed students with white paint while they were standing in front of their paintings to prevent them from getting covered. One protestor who was on site reportedly said there was a lack of clear communication between the contractors, the police, and the administration. Later that morning, President Kaler reportedly sent an email condemning the messages supporting Palestinian rights as “threatening, intimidating, and antisemitic” and described the language as “less threatening but still intimidating.” He stated the university was investigating the paint-spraying incident and, by evening, addressed it directly, calling it deeply disturbing and apologizing.
In August 2024, CWRU reportedly imposed highly restrictive rules on free expression, including prohibitions on tents, megaphones, and video projections, which received reprisal from students, faculty, and organizations. A significant reaction was from the CWRU School of Law, where faculty unanimously passed “A Resolution of Concern.” They stated that the new policy contradicts the free expression policy and legal precedent and could jeopardize the law school’s accreditation from the American Bar Association. Former student and former vice president of SJP at CWRU, Jad Ogelsby, stated his concerns, “Throughout the first two years of my time at Case was when Black Lives Matter was still very alive and relevant, and I felt accepted and heard as African American, but when issues involving Palestine were brought up, now, it was very hush-hush, and now we are being labeled as hateful, bigoted, antisemitic, warmongering, and even terrorists.”
