February 24, 2025

VIA E-MAIL

Craig Trainor
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., 4th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20202
Email: [email protected]

Director Zachary Pelchat

Office for Civil Rights
San Francisco Office
U.S. Department of Education
50 Beale Street, Suite 7200
San Francisco, CA 94105
Email: [email protected]

Re: Civil Rights Violations at Scripps College

Dear Acting Assistant Secretary Trainor and Director Pelchat:

I. Introduction
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law (the “Brandeis Center”), 1
Anti-Defamation League (“ADL”), 2 and the law firm of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
LLP (“Arnold & Porter”) (collectively, “Complainants”) ask the Department of
Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) to initiate an investigation into Scripps

1 The Brandeis Center is a national non-profit legal advocacy organization that works to combat
anti-Semitism on college and university campuses, in the workplace, and elsewhere.
2 ADL is a leading anti-hate organization committed to stopping the defamation of the Jewish

people and securing justice and fair treatment for all.

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Director Pelchat
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and clearly denounce anti-Semitism.

Students, student groups, faculty, and

7 have all repeatedly put the Administration on notice of the hostile

environment for Jewish and Israeli students, including by emailing the Administration
to bring these anti-Semitic incidents (and many more) to the College’s attention. The
Brandeis Center and ADL themselves sent a letter in July 2024 putting the College on
notice of the hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students on Scripps’s campus.
And multiple articles in the Scripps student newspaper contain shocking examples of
anti-Semitic tropes.

Despite its knowledge about these and other anti-Semitic incidents, the Administration
has not taken meaningful steps to eliminate the hostile climate for Jewish and Israeli
students promptly and effectively. Contrary to President Trump’s Executive Order
14188, “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” which clarifies U.S. policy "to
combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to
prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic
harassment and violence,” 8 Scripps has failed to treat anti-Semitism with the
seriousness and attention it requires; instead, the College has repeatedly abandoned
Jewish and Israeli students targeted by anti-Semitic hostility.

The hostile anti-Semitic environment at Scripps has had a significant impact on Jewish
and Israeli students and has forced them to conceal the Zionist component of their
Jewish identities. As one Jewish student stated: “I felt like maybe it’s best if I don’t
engage with my Judaism here, so I don’t feel ostracized.” Jewish students have
transferred from Scripps (or intend to do so) to other colleges, and Jewish students have
chosen to study abroad or graduate early from Scripps, among other impediments to
Jewish students’ educational experiences at Scripps, just to escape the hostile
environment. One Jewish student who stayed at Scripps noted she learned to hide her
Jewish identity and suppress her views. In her words: “I stopped wearing anything that
would identify me as a Jew. I regret not transferring to a school that takes the concerns
of Jewish students seriously.”

We have not used students’ names in this Complaint because the students prefer to
remain anonymous—in most cases, due to fear of retaliation or being “canceled” or
ostracized by other Scripps students. Both current and former students expressed this
fear, which further demonstrates the impact of the hostile environment at Scripps. All
the students discussed in this Complaint are willing and able to provide interviews or

7
8Exec. Order No. 14188, 90 Fed. Reg. 8847, Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism (Jan.
29, 2025), https://www.federalregister.gov/executive-order/14188, at Sec. 2 [hereinafter “EO
14188”].

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testimony to OCR about the hostile environment that has developed for Jewish and
Israeli students at Scripps.

II. Jewish Identity and Anti-Semitism

Since the Hamas terror attack against Israel on October 7, 2023—the deadliest day for
the Jewish people worldwide since the Holocaust—campus life for Jewish and Israeli
college and university students has been markedly altered. As President Trump’s
Executive Order on Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism (“EO 14188”)
describes, the October 7 terrorist attacks “unleashed an unprecedented wave of vile anti-
Semitic discrimination, vandalism, and violence against our citizens, especially in our
schools and on our campuses,” and “Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of
discrimination; denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including
libraries and classrooms; and intimidation, harassment, and physical threats and
assault.” 9

With increasing frequency, Jewish and Israeli college and university students are being
targeted due to the Jewish people’s connection to Israel. EO 14188, which reaffirms
President Trump’s Executive Order 13899, “Combating Anti-Semitism” 10 confirms the
government’s commitment to using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
Working Definition of Antisemitism and its contemporary examples (the “IHRA
Definition”) to determine whether conduct is anti-Semitic. 11 According to the IHRA
Definition, which OCR uses in assessing anti-Semitism complaints, “[h]olding Jews
collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel” is an example of anti-
Semitism.” 12

On college campuses, including Scripps, the word “Zionist” is frequently used as a

codeword, proxy term, or dog-whistle for “Jew” among those seeking to disguise their
anti-Semitism. Students report being shunned, harassed, marginalized, and excluded as
“Zionists.” As OCR recognizes, Jews share more than a common faith; they are a people
with a shared history and heritage deeply rooted in the land of Israel. Indeed, according
to a Pew Research Center survey, eight in ten Jews say that caring about Israel is an

9 Id. at Sec. 1.
10 See Exec. Order No. 13899, 84 Fed. Reg. 68779, Combating Anti-Semitism (Dec. 11, 2019),
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-201900859/pdf/DCPD-201900859.pdf [hereinafter
“EO 13889”].
11 See Working definition of antisemitism, International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance,

https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism; see also EO 14188,

supra note 8.
12 Working definition of antisemitism, supra note 11.

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postings, 33 and a letter from the Middle Eastern Studies Association (“MESA”) to
President Marcus-Newhall and other leadership of the Claremont Colleges. 34 These anti-
Semitic tropes spread like wildfire throughout the Scripps campus.

We quote here a few of many examples:

The Motley “impacts their money, it impacts their donations . . . There is a tie
between capitalism and Zionism. So the people who are in these positions of
extreme wealth are probably going to have views that do not align with the voices
in support of the Palestinian people.” 35

“The closing of the Motley is not just a clear statement of Zionist sentiments . . .” 36

“Ensuring the next paycheck from our wealthy donors is more important to the
Consortion [sic] than exercising any of the values they pride themselves on.” 37

“Why is the comfort of zionist Jews more important than that of Palestinians?” 38

“It is clear that this decision was made without considering any student input;
rather, it was an action complicit in furthering the settler colonial, genocidal
occupation of Palestine, funded by the dollars of the Scripps College endowment . .
. [O]ur president sided with the profit-motivated Board of Trustees.” 39

“I don’t think that the decision was made with regard to anyone except donors who
might take away their money.” 40

[hereinafter “Complete Record”]; see also Leah Gorence, Bittersweet: The Motley Reopening, The
Scripps Voice (Dec. 7, 2024), https://scrippsvoice.com/bittersweet-the-motley-reopening/.
33 See The Motley Coffeehouse (@motleycoffee), Instagram (Oct. 23. 2024),

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBfCGnNyUHj/?hl=en&img index=1.
34 See MESA, Letter to the leaders of the Claremont colleges regarding their repression of academic

freedom and freedom of speech and assembly (Nov. 4, 2024),

https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2024/11/04/letter-to-the-leaders-of-
the-claremont-colleges-regarding-their-repression-of-academic-freedom-and-freedom-of-speech-
and-assembly.
35 TSV Copy Editors, “Inclusive for Who?”: Motley Workers Fight Back Against Repression and

Closure, The Scripps Voice (Oct. 10, 2024), https://scrippsvoice.com/inclusive-for-who-motley-

workers-fight-back-against-repression-and-closure (quoting a Motley manager).
36 Complete Record, supra note 32.
37 Complete Record, supra note 32.
38 Complete Record, supra note 32.
39 Complete Record, supra note 32.
40 Complete Record, supra note 32.

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E. After the anti-Semitic occupation and vandalization of an academic

building at neighboring Pomona College, Scripps not only refrained
from condemning or punishing the involved Scripps students but
publicly assisted them in evading the consequences of Pomona’s
sanctions.

1. Anti-Israel Scripps students occupied and vandalized an academic

building with anti-Semitic graffiti and targeted Jewish students
on October 7, 2024.

On October 7, 2024, in commemoration of Hamas’s murder, torture, rape, and

kidnapping of Israelis on October 7, 2023, over 400 students from the Claremont Colleges
(including a substantial number of students from Scripps) participated in an anti-Israel
walkout and occupation of Carnegie Hall at Pomona College. The disruption and
destruction created by the occupying students was substantial. They impeded students
and faculty from entering or leaving the building by zip-tying and obstructing doors; they
caused “extensive damage” to buildings, classrooms, offices, and carpeting with spray-
painted graffiti; they destroyed audio-visual equipment; and they commandeered
classrooms to lead “teach-in” sessions. The “extensive damage” forced Pomona to close
Carnegie Hall for a period and relocate classes. 51

The anti-Semitic and anti-Israel nature of the occupation was clear. To state the
obvious, the event was planned for October 7 in homage to the Hamas terrorists who
murdered and tortured 1,200 Israelis. A masked student at Carnegie Hall blamed Jews
for the death of Jesus. The protesters’ chants also included demands for the elimination
of Israel (“Hey hey ho ho! ISRAEL HAS GOT TO GO”) and celebrations of violence
against Jews (“LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA”), 52 as did their graffiti. Photos from inside
the building show that the red spray paint that damaged the walls read “INTIFADA” and

51 Kendall White & Charlie Hatcher, Protesters Occupy, Vandalize Pomona’s Carnegie Hall on
One-Year Anniversary of Oct. 7 Attacks, The Claremont Independent (Oct. 7, 2024),
https://www.claremontindependent.com/post/protestors-occupy-vandalize-pomona-s-carnegie-
hall-on-one-year-anniversary-of-october-7th-attacks; see also G. Gabrielle Starr, Incidents at
Carnegie Hall and the Road Ahead, Pomona College (Oct. 11, 2024),
https://www.pomona.edu/administration/president/statements/posts/incidents-carnegie-hall-and-
road-ahead.
52 The chant is a reference to two periods of Palestinian violence against Israel—in the late 1980s

and from 2000-2005—which saw Palestinian terrorists commit indiscriminate acts of violence
against Israelis, including suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings, targeting people on city
buses, eating in restaurants, or out at nightclubs, resulting in over 1,000 people killed. This
slogan is generally understood as a call for indiscriminate violence against Israel, and potentially
against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide. See, e.g., Slogan: Globalize the Intifada, ADL
(Jan. 16, 2024), https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/slogan-globalize-intifada.

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F. Jewish students felt compelled to leave campus and miss classes on

October 7, 2024 to avoid being “outed” as Zionists when they failed
to participate in the walk-out.
A planned walk-out at 10:07 a.m. accompanied the October 7, 2024 occupation of
Carnegie Hall. Notwithstanding the Scripps policy prohibiting class cancellation in the
absence of emergencies, 65 some faculty chose to cancel classes. Student B was in a
required core class that morning. This class consisted of eight students, and at 10:07 am,
seven students fully masked themselves and left the room. Student B was the only
student who remained. Her professor canceled the remainder of the class.

At least two other faculty members themselves walked out during class with all the
students in those classes. When a faculty member walks out during class, that not only
effectively cancels the class, but it also pressures the students to join the walk out, so as
not to displease the professor who will be grading them.

Many Jewish students left Scripps’s campus on October 7, 2024 and missed their classes
to avoid being “outed” as Zionists when they chose not to celebrate the mass murder of
Jews by joining the walk-out. 66

Scripps was well aware of the planned walk-out, having been apprised of it by at least
two faculty members. The Administration did nothing to provide support to Jewish
students who would be deprived of class instruction—and thereby denied an educational
opportunity—because they feared being ostracized and shunned if they were alone in
their classes after the rest of the students walked out.

Scripps does not appear to have taken any action to discipline these faculty for their
violation of Scripps’s rules and for denying Jewish students the benefit of their classes.

G. The Scripps Administration has received extensive notice of the

hostile environment on campus and has failed to act.

As set forth above, the Administration has been aware of the hostile environment on
campus for Jewish and Israeli students from at least the following sources: the
ADL/Brandeis Center letter of July 2024, and the detailed emails to the Administration
from Students B and C, from faculty, from the , and from
. has also made repeated offers to assist the Administration in
addressing these problems. Her suggestions have been ignored, and administrators have
shown no proactive interest in working together, despite her repeated offers. This is not

See Faculty Handbook, section 3.25.

65

Student
66 . See
Demonstration Policies, supra note 55.

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III. Legal Argument: Scripps Has Violated Title VI.

A. Title VI protects Jewish students from harassment and discrimination

based on their shared ancestry.

Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in

educational institutions that receive federal funding. OCR and DOJ guidance in 2004,
2010, 2017, 2023, and 2024 specifies that Title VI covers discrimination against Jews on
the basis of their “actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.” 69

According to EO 13899, which has been incorporated into OCR’s current policy guidance
and recently reaffirmed via EO 14188, 70 Title VI must be enforced “against prohibited
forms of discrimination rooted in anti-Semitism as vigorously as against all other forms
of discrimination prohibited by Title VI.” 71 EO 13899 incorporates the IHRA Definition,
which states that “the denial to Jews of opportunities or services available to others” is
“antisemitic discrimination.” 72 As the IHRA Definition states, criticism of Israel similar
to that leveled against any other country is not anti-Semitism. But demonizing the
Jewish State, calling for its destruction, blaming Jewish students for the actions of the
Israeli government, denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination, and/or
subjecting Israel to double standards are classic earmarks of anti-Semitism.

For purposes of Title VI, harassment creates a “hostile environment” when, based on the
totality of the circumstances, the harassment “is subjectively and objectively offensive
and is so severe or pervasive that it limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or

69 OCR, U.S. Dep’t of Educ., Dear Colleague Letter (Nov. 7, 2023),

https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-202311-discrimination-
harassment-shared-ancestry.pdf [hereinafter “2023 Dear Colleague Letter”]; see also OCR, U.S.
Dep’t of Educ., Fact Sheet: Protecting Students from Discrimination Based on Shared Ancestry
or Ethnic Characteristics (Jan. 2023), FACT SHEET: Protecting Students from Discrimination
Based on Shared Ancestry or Ethnic Characteristics; OCR, U.S. Dep’t Educ., Know Your Rights:
Title VI and Religion (January 17, 2017), Know Your Rights: Title VI and Religion [hereinafter
“Know Your Rights”]; 2010 Dear Colleague Letter, supra note 16; OCR, Dep’t of Educ., Letter
from Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Att’y Gen., to Russlyn H. Ali, Assistant Sec’y for CR, Dep’t of
Educ., Re: Title VI and Coverage of Religiously Identifiable Groups, (Sept. 8, 2010),
090810 AAG Perez Letter to Ed OCR Title VI and Religiously Identifiable Groups.pdf; OCR,
Dep’t of Educ., Dear Colleague Letter (Sept. 13,
2004), https://www.ed.gov/media/document/religious-rights2004pdf.
70 EO 14188, supra note 8.
71 EO 13899, at Sec. 1, supra note 10; see also OCR, Dep’t of Educ., Questions and Answers on

Executive Order 13899 (Combatting Anti-Semitism) and OCR’s Enforcement of Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Jan. 19, 2021), https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/qa-titleix-
anti-semitism-20210119.pdf.
72 EO 13899, at Sec. 1, supra note 10; see also Working definition of antisemitism, supra note 11.

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benefit from the recipient’s education program or activity.” 73 A Title VI recipient, like
Scripps, “must take immediate and effective action to respond to harassment that creates
a hostile environment.” 74 Further, a university can violate Title VI if peer harassment “is
sufficiently serious that it creates a hostile environment and such harassment is
encouraged, tolerated, not adequately addressed, or ignored by school employees.” 75 And
a university must respond to discriminatory harassment when such harassment
“negatively affect[s] the ability and willingness of Jewish students to participate fully in
the school’s education programs and activities.” 76

B. Scripps has permitted a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli

students to develop and flourish on its campus.
Scripps has violated Title VI by allowing a hostile environment to develop on its campus
and failing to address it. Scripps has a duty to “take prompt and effective action
reasonably calculated to end the harassment, eliminate any hostile environment and its
effects, and prevent the harassment from recurring.” 77

The Statement of Facts above recounts one example after another of severe or pervasive
anti-Semitic conduct that was brought to the attention of the Scripps Administration and
about which Scripps did nothing or, in the case of the Carnegie Hall occupation, made
matters worse. The anti-Semitic roommate was also brought to the attention of the
Scripps office with authority to act—the Office of Residential Life. It did nothing. The
harassing anti-Semitic comments made to Student B were detailed in a letter to a
Scripps administrator, who arranged meetings for Student B but did nothing. Anti-
Semitic tropes plastered all over the Scripps student newspaper were met with silence
from the Administration. And, when Scripps students engaged in anti-Semitic
vandalism at Carnegie Hall, Scripps publicly “scrambled” to find ways to help the
wrongdoers avoid the consequences of their actions.

IV. Suggested Remedies

In light of Scripps’s failure to take prompt and effective steps to protect Jewish and
Israeli students and eliminate the hostile environment on campus, the Brandeis Center,
ADL, and Arnold and Porter urge OCR to require Scripps to take the following steps to
come into compliance with Title VI:

73 2023 Dear Colleague Letter, supra note 69, at 2.

74 2023 Dear Colleague Letter, supra note 69, at 2.
75 2010 Dear Colleague Letter, supra note 16, at 1; see also Know Your Rights, supra note 69.
76 2010 Dear Colleague Letter, supra note 16, at 5-6.
77 2010 Dear Colleague Letter, supra note 16, at 2-3.

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1. Incorporate Executive Order 13899 and 14188 and the IHRA Definition of anti-
Semitism and its guiding examples into Scripps’s policies and policy manuals
related to non-discrimination and codes of conduct; clarify its commitment to use
the IHRA Definition and its contemporary examples as intended under EOs 13899
and 14188 when evaluating complaints to determine anti-Semitic intent; and
amend all codes, policies, and procedures concerning discrimination, retaliation,
intimidation, harassment, bullying, and violence to clarify that conduct falling
within the IHRA definition and its examples will be considered a violation of those
codes, policies, and procedures.

2. Recognize and integrate into applicable policies and conduct code, that “Zionism”
is often used as a codeword for “Jew” and that Zionism is integral to the Jewish
identity of many Jewish Americans. This should be done to the standard found
here, here, and here, or higher.

3. Provide training on anti-Semitism to all Scripps administrators, faculty, students,

and staff who interact with Scripps students, including resident advisors. The
training should familiarize all members of the community with traditional as well
as contemporary anti-Semitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories and their social
and political functions, so the Scripps community will be able to better identify
and respond to anti-Semitic incidents in the future, particularly those that involve
Jewish ethnicity and shared ancestry connected to Israel. The individual(s) or
entity conducting this training must be mutually acceptable to both Scripps and
the Complainants.

4. Issue a statement denouncing anti-Semitism in all its forms. We recommend that

Scripps use or model its statement on the following language:

We condemn anti-Semitism in all its forms. Scripps is committed to taking

all necessary actions, including discipline where appropriate, to address and
ameliorate discrimination and harassment based on actual or perceived
shared ancestry or ethnicity, including anti-Semitism that manifests as
anti-Zionism.

We recognize that Zionism is a key component of the shared ancestral and

ethnic identity of many Jewish Americans, including many Scripps
students. Efforts to harass, marginalize, and exclude Zionists because they
express this part of their Jewish ancestral and ethnic identity is contrary to
Scripps’s institutional values and nondiscrimination and conduct codes.
Anti-Semitic harassment, bullying, and targeting are unacceptable.

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To that end, Scripps will utilize the IHRA Working Definition of anti-
Semitism and its accompanying examples as required by law when
investigating and responding to incidents of harassment and discrimination
to determine whether they are motivated by anti-Semitic animus or bias.
Scripps encourages the campus community to educate itself about the many
manifestations of anti-Semitism by reading and studying the IHRA
Definition and its contemporary examples.

5. Enforce Scripps’s policies against vandalism and make clear that such conduct
violates College policy and will not be tolerated.

6. Establish and enforce policies forbidding protests in classroom buildings,

dormitories, libraries, dining halls, etc.

7. Implement a ban on masked protests (see here). Student groups that do not comply
with this ban on masked protests will lose their Scripps recognition. Students who
do not comply with this ban on masked protests will face appropriate discipline.

8. Implement a ban on non-student protest activity on campus.

9. Implement a “zero tolerance” policy for classroom and learning environment

disruptions.

10. Modify relevant College educational programs and training to ensure appropriate
inclusion of Jewish identity, including the Zionist component of Jewish identity,
and communicate and enforce a zero-tolerance policy for anti-Semitic and anti-
Zionist conduct. The individual(s) or entity conducting these educational
programs and training must be mutually acceptable to both Scripps and the
Complainants.

11. Add additional security measures to protect students, including security cameras
in the dormitories and around the campus.

12. Publicly share and announce information on disciplinary outcomes to the extent
allowable under FERPA.

13. Make a public acknowledgment that chanting “from the river to the sea,”
“intifada,” “there is only one solution, intifada revolution,” “by any means
necessary,” “resistance is justified,” and any other similar chants constitutes a call
to violence and the elimination of Jews and the Jewish state, which Scripps
condemns.

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14. Institute policies to ensure faculty and staff abide by the American Association of
University Professors guidelines and stick to their fields of study, forbidding
teaching staff from pressuring students to engage in political activism (including
the canceling of class to promote attendance at campus protests, encouraging
students to attend campus protests during class time, and offering extra credit or
other incentives for attending such protests).

15. Extend an invitation to Claremont Hillel to participate in and meet new students
at orientation programming, to the extent other organizations are permitted to
have representatives attend such events or other community leaders are included
in the programming.

16. Create a long-term task force, with a membership selection process agreed upon by
the Parties, for addressing anti-Semitism on campus, with power, authority, and
jurisdiction, to report directly to Scripps’ President and the Scripps Board of
Trustees. The Task Force should include students who have a demonstrated
interest in the issue of anti-Semitism and the Claremont Hillel Executive Director,
who will work directly with appropriate Scripps administrators to create
programming and activities to improve the campus climate for the benefit of all
students, faculty, and staff. The task force shall be responsible for, among other
tasks:

a. Review of classes, panels, forums, and other academic programs, including

student group programs, reported to have anti-Semitic content.

b. Ensure that relevant educational programs and trainings at Scripps include

Jewish identity, including the Zionist component of Jewish identity, and
communicate and enforce a zero-tolerance policy for anti-Semitic and anti-
Zionist conduct.

c. Propose and implement broad initiatives to educate Scripps students and

faculty about anti-Semitism. Conduct an audit and report of financial support
to Scripps and the Claremont Colleges from actors that finance anti-Semitic
speech and terrorist organizations.

17. Create an ombudsman to address anti-Semitism complaints on campus.

18. Create a permanent academic center for the study of anti-Semitism.

19. Commit to rejecting any Boycott, Divest, and Sanction measures targeting Israel,
Israelis, or Israeli businesses.

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20. Ensure that all students at the Claremont Colleges, including Jewish and Israeli
students, can access, use, and/or reserve space in the Motley and all other Scripps
and Claremont Colleges-wide facilities, and that the reservation process for space
at the Motley is uniform for all students and student groups. Relatedly, ensure
that the Motley and all other Scripps facilities adhere to Scripps’s Advertising,
Publicity, and Solicitation Policy, the Principles of Community, and any and all
other relevant Scripps and/or Claremont Colleges-wide policies.

21. Conduct disciplinary proceedings for those Scripps students, faculty, staff, and/or
5C organizations known to have been involved in organizing, leading, and/or
participating in the October 7, 2024 takeover of Carnegie Hall at Pomona,
including those who vandalized and damaged Pomona property, disrupted classes
or other College operations, and harassed Jewish and Israeli (and other) students
in violation of any and all relevant Scripps, Pomona College, and/or Consortium-
wide policies, including but not limited to, The Claremont Colleges Demonstration
Policies and Procedures.

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IV. Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, the Brandeis Center, ADL, and Arnold & Porter urge OCR to
initiate an investigation of Scripps College, a recipient of federal funding, for violations of
Title VI and the statute’s implementing regulations.

Respectfully Submitted,

Denise Katz-Prober Deena Margolies

Director of Legal Initiatives Staff Attorney
[email protected] [email protected]

Baruch Weiss James Pasch

Partner Vice President, Litigation
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP ADL
[email protected] [email protected]

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 Exhibit A

Dear Scripps College Community Members,

It is with great regret and disappointment that I inform you that Scripps College
has made the difficult decision to close the Motley Coffeehouse until further notice,
pending a process to clarify the roles and responsibilities, operating protocols, and
legal obligations of College administration and student employees.

We did not arrive at this decision lightly, as we recognize the Motley’s centrality as
a cherished campus hub for community engagement and entrepreneurial
experience. As a College-owned business, the Motley and its employees are subject
to the same rights and obligations of other community spaces and employees. Over
the past four weeks, Dean of Students' staff have engaged in multiple conversations
with Motley employees. These conversations aimed to highlight the importance of
fostering an inclusive environment that welcomes diverse opinions, beliefs, and
identities within the Scripps community. The discussions emphasized the potential
business risks and negative impacts associated with actions that may inadvertently
restrict free expression or create an unwelcoming atmosphere.

The College remains committed to working collaboratively to ensure that the Motley
continues to be a space that reflects and celebrates the diversity of our campus.
However, the Motley managers have ignored the Dean of Students’ repeated
requests to issue an open call for visual materials for display inside the business,
refused to attend operational meetings with the Business Affairs team, and closed
the business to the public for political purposes. For these reasons, the College has
suspended the Motley business operation until the College can establish viable
working protocols.

It is my sincere hope that we can commit to a constructive, informed dialogue

process in which diverse perspectives are heard and all parties share accountability
for this College-owned, student-run business that our community values. It is our
aim to preserve the feminist and intersectional ethos that has shaped the Motley’s
culture and ensure that it also embodies the spirit of access and inclusion we strive
to create on Scripps’ campus.
In line with Scripps College’s Principles of Community, our aim is to ensure that
the Motley remains a welcoming space for all members of the Scripps and 7C
communities.

As we voice undoubtedly divergent views about this decision, I urge you to do so

with respect and consideration for your classmates, coworkers, and fellow
community members.

Sincerely,

President Amy Marcus-Newhall

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