January 15, 2025
Office of Civil Rights concludes UW investigation with resolution agreement, no finding of liability or wrongdoing
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights announced the conclusion of its investigation into complaints alleging that the University of Washington discriminated against students on the basis of shared ancestry by failing to respond to incidents of harassment consistent with the requirements of Title VI. The resolution agreement “does not constitute an admission of liability, non-compliance or wrongdoing by the University,” and the UW has agreed to five actions that will strengthen its commitment to timely and effective responses to complaints filed by students, faculty and staff.
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) began its investigation in December 2023, following a complaint that had been filed by a student. An additional complaint filed by a group unaffiliated with the UW regarding the disruption of the Sept. 12, 2024, Board of Regents meeting was included as part of the resolution.
“The University of Washington is committed to the safety and well-being of all our community members – anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and discrimination of any kind have no place in our University,” UW President Ana Mari Cauce said. “We take seriously the concerns that were raised, and we appreciate the opportunity to reach a resolution in this matter, including taking actions that will continue and strengthen our efforts to support a welcoming and safe environment for every member of the UW community.”
The UW provided OCR approximately 140 reports alleging shared ancestry harassment or discrimination against students that were submitted to the University from August 2022 through December 2023, and for the months of March, April, May and September in 2024.
OCR’s investigation identified steps the UW has taken to address such complaints, including the creation of task forces on antisemitism and Islamophobia to learn more about the degree to which Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim and Middle Eastern communities’ feel welcome on UW campuses ; meaningful communication between administrators and Jewish student groups, and 10 posts on UW President Ana Mari Cauce’s blog “in which the President condemned hateful actions on campus, shared resources, and encouraged University community members to report acts of hate.”
The investigation also revealed gaps in the UW’s response to bias incident complaints, which the UW will address through the agreed-upon actions.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which reinforces our values and our commitment to upholding Title VI and protecting the civil rights of every member of our community,” UW Provost Tricia Serio said. “I look forward to working with the University’s leadership to implement the actions and commitments outlined in this agreement and to continually working to foster a campus community free of discrimination and welcoming to all.”
The five actions agreed upon by OCR and the UW include:
- Review and update of policies and procedures: The University will review its policies and procedures to ensure that they adequately address the Title VI prohibition on discrimination based on race, color and national origin, including discrimination based on a student’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics. During its review, the University will identify the relevant policies and procedures currently in effect to ensure that they consistently provide that the University must assess whether incidents of reported shared ancestry discrimination or harassment have created a hostile environment.
- Regular reporting, review, investigation and response training for employees: By May 1, 2025, the University will provide regular training to all employees responsible for reviewing and/or investigating reports of discrimination, including harassment, based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics to ensure the investigators know how to identify relevant witnesses to interview and how to conduct interviews about such harassment. The training will also be provided to all employees involved in responding to reports of race, color and national origin discrimination and harassment in the University’s senior executive leadership, Civil Rights Investigation Office/Civil Rights Compliance Office, Campus and Community Safety, Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and Student Life.
- Regular anti-discrimination training for students and employees: By June 1, 2025, the University will provide training to all employees and students addressing discrimination based on race, color and national origin, including harassment based on shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics. The training will address an explanation that harassment is prohibited; examples of harassment; an explanation that harassment may occur on or off campus, or on social media; an explanation that employees and students who are aware of harassment should report it; a description of steps the University will take to address harassment; and notice of how to find the University’s harassment policies.
- Climate assessment: The University will provide to OCR documentation sufficient to show its implementation of actions the University took in response to the results of the community survey and focus groups conducted for the University’s already established Antisemitism Task Force and Islamophobia Task Force. The documentation will include a description of the actions and how they were implemented. Also, by spring quarter 2025, the University will develop and administer a climate assessment for students and employees in the University. The UW is already preparing its 2025 Climate Survey in accordance with state law. The assessment will include questions to evaluate the climate with respect to shared ancestry and the extent to which students and/or employees are subjected to, or witness discrimination, including harassment, based on race, color and/or national origin, including shared ancestry.
- Prior report compilation and review: By June 1, 2025, the University will review its response to each report of discrimination and/or harassment on the basis of shared ancestry for the 2023-2024 academic year, to ensure that the University made a determination regarding whether the alleged conduct created a hostile environment, even where the conduct occurred off campus or on social media. If the University’s review reveals that it did not complete a determination for any of the reports made during the 2023-2024 academic year, the University will promptly make a determination regarding whether the alleged conduct created a hostile environment and will provide the parties with notice of its determination. For each incident, the University will make a legal determination of whether the alleged conduct was unwelcome based on the totality of the circumstances, both subjectively and objectively offensive, and so severe or pervasive that it limited or denied a student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the University’s program or activity.
The full resolution letter from the Office of Civil Rights is available online, as is the complete resolution agreement.
# # #
For more information, contact Victor Balta at balta@uw.edu.
