The back-to-school season is an exciting time, when everything is new and filled with opportunity. For Jewish college students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, though, the thrill of the new year is tinged with fear. 

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is supposed to protect students, including Jews, from discrimination based on “race, color, or national origin.” But not all minorities are created equal in the eyes of university administrators.

Cal Poly takes charges of racism seriously — as well it should. Charges of antisemitism — not so much. 

As the executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, I run the LIAT Fellowship, a leadership program for Jewish college students, which brings me in contact with many students from some of our country’s best universities.

While many have positive campus experiences, there is a constant refrain: There is no point in filing Title VI complaints against bad actors, because it’s a waste of time. 

The case of Adira Fogelman is an example. She is a rising senior at Cal Poly. A few months ago, she testified before the United States Commission on Civil Rights about her personal experience with antisemitism on campus.

In one incident, Adira requested that the history department offer a pro-Israel perspective to balance out anti-Zionist speakers invited to a department event. The department chair mocked her, comparing her request to a balanced debate about the Holocaust or racism. She filed a “Bias Incident Report” with the Office of Student Affairs, but she never heard back. 

In another case at Cal Poly, a university professor joined a mob of students protesting against an Israeli speaker on campus. The professor chanted for violence against Zionists, called students “Nazis,” and told one Jewish student to go back to Germany. 

Despite video footage of the incident, the harassing professor was not penalized or rebuked. Instead, he was later allowed to serve as the faculty advisor for the Cal Poly chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine — a group known for stoking antisemitic hatred on campus.

To be sure, Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong denounced antisemitism in unequivocal terms in his 2025 congressional testimony, and pledged to make “continuous improvement.” The university points to the newly established Cal Poly Antisemitism Task Force, and updated employee and student training, as proof of following through. 

But these efforts are mere window dressing if there is no process for adjudication and no system for accountability.

The same story is playing out across American universities. Antisemitic professors and students are given a slap on the wrist at best, and a free pass at worst. The absence of accountability creates a cycle of antisemitic hostility and abuse.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted to root out segregation and racism in public places. Title VI focused on federally assisted programs, including universities receiving federal funds.

When schools refused to integrate black students, the (then) Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) fought fire with fire. Between 1964 and 1970, the federal government had started administrative proceedings against 600 school districts, and 200 had lost federal funding. 

Today, Title VI is selectively enforced, and Congress should impose a new remedy to meet the challenge of our time.

The Student Protection and University Accountability (SPUA) Act was inspired by students like Adira. Sponsored by two New York congresswomen, Democrat Laura Gillen and Republican Elise Stefanik, the bipartisan bill requires universities to designate a Title VI coordinator and develop clear processes for investigating complaints. If schools do not comply, they will lose federal funding. 

At the signing ceremony for the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson declared: “We believe that all men are created equal. Yet many are denied equal treatment. We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Yet many Americans do not enjoy those rights.”

Today, we face a similar moral crisis exposing the rot at the center of university life. As the new school year begins, Jewish students know they will be denied equal treatment. They know they will not enjoy the same rights as their non-Jewish peers. 

If university administrators will not self-correct — and most will not — Congress should use its full authority to pass new legislation and force good behavior from bad actors.  

Nathan Diament is executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center, the nonpartisan arm of the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization.