December 14, 2021
VIA EMAIL
Vincent E. Price. Ph.D.
President, Duke University
207 Allen Building
Box 90001
Durham, NC 27708-0001
Dear President Price:
........We write on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), the oldest and one of the largest pro-Israel organizations in the U.S., whose mission includes fighting antisemitism and anti-Israelism on college campuses. The ZOA led the successful battle to ensure that Jewish students would be protected under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act from antisemitic harassment and discrimination at federally-funded schools. We have helped Jewish students enforce this right on campuses across the U.S., including at Duke University. It was the ZOA’s Title VI complaint to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) (OCR Complaint No. 11-19-2214) that triggered the December 3, 2019 Resolution Agreement that Duke signed and agreed to implement, under OCR’s monitoring.
........We were extremely troubled to learn that the Duke Student Government (DSG) wrongfully denied official recognition to a student group called Students Supporting Israel (SSI), and that Duke University has still not overridden the decision. As the facts below demonstrate, DSG singled out and discriminated against SSI, in violation of Duke University’s policies, and DSG’s misconduct should be addressed immediately.
........You should know that months ago, we alerted OCR to Duke’s violation of the December 2019 Resolution Agreement. We will be informing OCR about this latest incident as well if it is not remedied right away, since it again reflects that Duke is not truly committed to its legal obligation to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
DSG Recognized SSI and Then Wrongfully Upheld a Veto of the Decision
........We understand that on November 10, 2021, the DSG voted to recognize SSI as an official student organization. On November 13, 2021, a Duke student shared on social media an article about SSI’s recognition, and included this false, anti-Israel post: “My school promotes settler colonialism.”
