UC-Berkeley Jewish Students File Civil Rights Complaint

Attorneys for two Jewish UC-Berkeley graduate students alleging verbal and physical assault by Muslim students have filed a federal civil rights complaint against the university.

The federal complaint alleged that “Jewish students have been subjected to a pervasive hostile environment and that the university has failed to take effective measure to cure the situation,” according to the Oakland Tribune.

The students dropped a lawsuit that alleged the same charges.

“We filed because once the plaintiffs in the lawsuit graduated, we lost the ability to affect changes to correct the hostile environment,” Neal Sher, one of the attorneys, told the newspaper.

He and lawyer Joel Siegal filed the complaint Monday with the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Department of Education against UC Berkeley on behalf of graduates Jessica Felber and Brian Maissy.

A university official disputed the harassment and abuse claims.

“The campus takes great pride in its vibrant Hillel chapter, the broad range of other Jewish student groups, our world-class Jewish studies program, and the recently created Institute for Jewish Law and Israeli Law at the Berkeley law school,” UC Berkeley Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard said in a statement to the newspaper.