SWC Denounces U of Vermont’s Failure to Act against anti-Semitism

September 16, 2022

The failure of the administration to protect its Jewish students and act against those who openly harass and threaten them is an outrage that cannot go unpunished

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) denounced President of the University of Vermont, Suresh V. Garimella, for an offensive and inadequate response pertaining to the Title VI complaint filed on behalf of numerous UVM Jewish students by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Jewish on Campus.

“Jewish students continue to be targets of vicious anti-Semitic attacks and threats on major campuses across North America. The fact that a Title VI complaint had to be filed by the Brandeis Center was necessitated by UVM’s failure to act against the perpetrators of the threats and its failure to take necessary measures to reassure the rights and protections of its Jewish students”, stated SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda, Rabbi Abraham Cooper. 

“The Brandeis Center complaint is shocking and wide ranging. UMV’s response to threats against Jewish students amounts to malpractice. These kinds of threats and intimidation based on ideology is something that Americans would have expected to hear about only in the days of the Soviet Union or China’s Cultural Revolution. No individual or group should be allowed to be harassed and excluded from university life because of their religious identities and beliefs. Any university administrator that doesn’t abide and protect this fundamental of American life, should be removed,” Cooper added.

“The SWC fully backs the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights for its initiative and hope it serves as a wakeup call to university presidents and administrators across the US that the threats of anti-Semitism must be dealt with.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization numbering over 400.000 members. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).