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Complaints allege discrimination at colleges, including U of M
Since the conflict in the Middle East started on Oct. 7, the U.S. Department of Education has received 29 complaints alleging discrimination.
MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota is the subject of a new federal investigation that alleges acts of antisemitism on the Twin Cities campus.
This complaint centers around a few messages that were recently posted by professors in the College of Liberal Arts that voiced support for the Palestinian people.
The authors of the complaint argue these messages are anti-Israel and antisemitic, and since they were posted on university websites, they violate the school’s code of conduct and must be taken down.
The complaint was filed by former University of Minnesota Regent Michael Hsu and current U of M law professor Richard Painter.
Hsu said he and Painter became aware of these messages on the university’s websites back in October, and Painter sent university leadership a letter asking them to condemn the messages for violating the university’s code of conduct.
Hsu says the university refused, so the men filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education to request a formal investigation.
“My concern is just simply that they’re using the university’s official websites to do this. It’s a form of cyberbullying. It is making people feel uncomfortable at the university and any of these faculty could easily just use their own social media to do this,” Hsu said.
The professors who posted these messages at the U of M argue they have the right to share these messages due to academic freedom, and in the messages, they do clarify that these are their own personal views and don’t reflect the views of the university as a whole.
The university also responded to the complaint with this official statement:
We are aware of the letter shared with the Department of Education. The letter’s broad characterizations of the University are inaccurate and are fundamentally contrary to our mission and values. We look forward to hearing from the Office of Civil Rights, and to responding appropriately.
The safety of our students, faculty and staff is our top priority. Acts of harassment, intimidation or bias are entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We have and will respond promptly and fully to any reports of this behavior on campus. In addition, the University is providing resources to anyone in our community who needs support right now.
Hsu said he received an official response from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) on Tuesday, that said the complaint has been received and the case has been forwarded to its Chicago office for further evaluation.
This complaint is just one of many the Department of Education said it has received in recent weeks.
Since the conflict in the Middle East started on Oct. 7, the DOE said it has received 29 official complaints requesting investigations into universities and K-12 schools across the country.
Three university presidents have also come under fire in recent days after they were called to Washington D.C. for a hearing on antisemitism and Islamophobia on college campuses.
The president at the University of Pennsylvania resigned over the weekend after all the backlash.
Students and faculty at Harvard and MIT are also calling for the removal of their presidents, but leaders at both universities say they’re standing behind their presidents and don’t have any plans to remove them.
“The universities are caught in the middle of all this because they want to believe they can act on academic freedom, but I think if you look closely at the law, that they are probably overstepping,” Hsu says.
And it’s not just college campuses — there has been a massive increase in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia in general, in recent weeks.
The Anti-Defamation League said between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7 it has received 2,031 complaints, which is a 337% increase over the same time last year.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations shows similar numbers, reporting 2,171 complaints of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias between Oct. 7and Dec. 2.
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The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Maturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department “failed” after a man was shot, allegedly by his neighbor in the city.
“We failed this victim. 100%, because that should not have happened to him,” said O’Hara in a Sunday evening press conference.
The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Moturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
Sawchak was charged with shooting Moturi as he was pruning a tree on his front yard on Oct. 23.
Moturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion.
O’Hara and the MPD came under a heavy attack from the Minneapolis City Council after it was revealed that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office had charged Sawchak, but the MPD had not arrested him.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
“We failed to act urgently enough,” said O’Hara, before citing staffing concerns as a contributing factor.
It was a stark difference from the tone the chief initially took on Friday, then saying “If we wound up in a deadly situation, the headlines would read ‘MPD shot mentally ill person’.”
On Sunday, O’Hara said his previous comments were meant as a response to accusations that the MPD “didn’t care,” about the case.
“This is the result of over-politicizing policing in Minneapolis,” said O’Hara.
O’Hara stated that the MPD will, for the moment, continue waiting for Sawchak to exit his home to arrest him, but the chief added “We are running out of options before we have to escalate the matter.”
The heated back-and-forth between the city council and the chief continued earlier Sunday when Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski released a statement questioning O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey actions in the matter.
“Our Chief of Police is hiding behind excuses, and our Mayor…is just hiding.” said Koski in the statement.
Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
