SMC under federal investigation again – This

On Monday, Santa Monica College (SMC) received notice that the school is being investigated by the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for “alleged harassment of students by a professor based on national origin (common Jewish ancestry).” This is the second time OCR has added SMC The list of more than 120 other schools in the United States that have been investigated for discrimination under Title VI since the attack in Israel on October 7.

Donald Girard, senior director of government relations and institutional communications at SMC, confirmed that the school had received notification of the investigation. He explained: “This is due to concerns raised about a course in ethnic studies.”

Although the specific course has not yet been directly mentioned in the context of this study, numerous indications suggest that this is an assignment from the lecture “Introduction to Ethnology” by Professor Elias Serna.

Serna told Corsair he was not informed of this investigation. “I received a complaint from a student about the wording of a question in an assignment that asked students to make a connection between a course reading and the current conflict in Gaza,” he said.

Serna said he was “doxxed” by LA Mommies and Canary Mission, a “right-wing conservative group that targets ‘left-wing’ professors.” He added that there is a new nationwide censorship and self-censorship campaign related to teaching about Palestine and criticism of Israel/Zionism.

On March 8, a screenshot of Serna’s task spread on social media. One of the questions in the assignment was, “What do you think about Israel’s ongoing destruction and genocide in Palestine?”

StopAntisemitism posted this Screenshot and Serna’s task on X, formerly Twitter, called the wording “outrageous.” Users of the Facebook group “Mothers Against College Antisemitism” shared emails and phone numbers of SMC administrators and encouraged others to “flood the school with emails.”

Two days later, President Kathryn Jeffrey of SMC released one opinion in response to “numerous emails and calls from community members expressing concern about a particular order.”

The statement said the SMC is “committed to open dialogue and the free exchange of ideas between faculty and students,” citing the institution’s legal commitment to academic freedom. It continued: “The views expressed by individual faculty do not necessarily reflect the values ​​of the college, but at the same time are not considered prohibited conduct unless the speech or expression is unlawful,” it said.

In Girard’s response to Corsair, he referenced Jeffrey’s release in connection with the latest federal investigation into SMC.

“As noted in the OCR letter, the opening of an investigation in no way means that the OCR has made a determination on the merits. The College is confident that it has met its legal obligations under federal law and will fully cooperate with and respond to the OCR’s investigation,” Girard said.

The first investigation was initiated on December 4, 2023, following a complaint about a meeting of the SMC Inter-Club Council (ICC) that rejected the establishment of the Students Supporting Israel club on October 19. The SMC administration reversed this decision within less than 24 hours of the meeting, citing the ICC’s constitution, which declared it unconstitutional for club delegates to refuse to charter a club even though it met all basic requirements.

Jeffery and Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Tuitasi released a statement on December 14, 2023, committing to increased security measures for “confidential group spaces” and an intolerance of discrimination. They also said, “We will inform you of any final decision.” There has been no update on that initial investigation since then.

While SMC now appears on the list of Title VI investigations twice, it is joined by some of its neighbors. The University of California, Los Angeles appears four times and the University of Southern California appears twice.