The U.S. Department of Education is investigating Whitman College for “potential discrimination related to common ancestry,” according to a list of Title VI investigations on the department’s website.
The page also lists several other investigations of West Coast schools, including the University of Washington, the University of California-Los Angeles, and Stanford University.
Whitman College spokeswoman Gina Zandi Ohnstad confirmed to UB that an investigation is underway and said school officials will cooperate.
Student leader Sam Johnson speaks to pro-Palestine protesters before they march from the Whitman College campus into downtown Walla Walla on Thursday, October 12.
“Whitman College is fully cooperating with the Office for Civil Rights by providing requested information and identifying reported incidents,” she said. He added: “We do not yet know the details of the charges, and the Office for Civil Rights has been clear that opening this investigation does not imply finding responsibility.”
According to the list, the investigation began at Whitman College on Friday, December 8.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits “discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance,” according to the US Department of Justice website.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights conducts Title VI investigations of schools — from elementary school districts to colleges and universities — that have complaints of discrimination and lists the complaints on its website.
There is no specific information about the details of Whitman College’s complaint.
While the Office for Civil Rights lists 77 open investigations, the first of which began in 2016, many of the investigations began after violence erupted in Israel and the Gaza Strip on Saturday, October 7.
The latest batch of investigations into West Coast schools comes just weeks after the department issued a press release announcing investigations into several East Coast schools, including Harvard and Columbia University.
“Hate has no place in our schools,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in the press release issued on Thursday, November 16. “When students are targeted because they are – or are perceived to be – Jews, Muslims or Arabs.” Or Sikh or any other ethnicity or common ancestry, schools must work to ensure safe and inclusive learning environments where everyone has the freedom to learn. “These investigations confirm how seriously the Biden-Harris administration, including the US Department of Education, takes our responsibility to protect students from hate and discrimination.”
Since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas, Whitman College has become one of many colleges and universities across the country where students and other residents have organized demonstrations.
Whitman College Students for Justice in Palestine and the Regional Party for Socialism and Liberation led a campus march from Ankeny Field to Wallawalla Plaza on Thursday, October 12, to show solidarity with Palestinian victims and call for the United States to halt its aid to Israel.
About a month later, on Thursday, November 9, a group of Whitman College students began demanding an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees to vote on divestment from companies that support Israel. Many students occupied the campus’s Memorial Hall building and park as part of their demonstration. The sit-in ended three days later, on Sunday, November 12, after a group of students met with college officials.
On Tuesday, November 28, Whitman College President Sarah Bolton issued a message to the campus community.
“We have received concerns from students, faculty, and staff, and are seeing significant impacts on the well-being of a number of Jewish members of our community,” Bolton wrote in the letter. “This is deeply troubling, and we must work to address it. Anti-Semitism has no place here. The same goes for Islamophobia and other forms of prejudice and discrimination.”
If the Department of Education’s investigation uncovers ways Whitman College can better combat discrimination, officials will be open to those ideas, Zandi Ohnstad said.
“We are committed to our ongoing work to combat anti-Semitism and bias of any kind, and we welcome the insights the Office for Civil Rights may provide to these efforts,” she said.
The US Department of Education has launched an investigation into allegations of discrimination at Whitman College, a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The department is looking into complaints of discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation, and will be conducting a thorough review of the college’s policies and practices to ensure compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws. This investigation raises important questions about the treatment of marginalized communities within higher education institutions and the responsibility of colleges to create inclusive and equitable learning environments.