The bill would add religion to the grounds protected from discrimination under Title VI for programs that receive federal assistance. The protection would not apply to programs conducted, controlled, or affiliated with a religious organization, including a student religious organization. For colleges and other postsecondary schools, discrimination would include deliberate indifference to severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment that effectively denies a person equal access to education resources or opportunities. The bill also sets fines for colleges found to have repeated violations involving antisemitic discrimination, requires notice to students, faculty, and staff after such a finding, and allows courts to appoint monitors. It defines antisemitism as a perception of Jews that may be expressed as hatred, including related rhetorical or physical acts directed at people, property, community institutions, or religious facilities.
Students, faculty, and staff at covered colleges would receive notice if their institution is found to have violated Title VI through antisemitic discrimination. Federal officials would review certain private lawsuits against colleges, and courts could appoint monitors to review remedies after a violation. The bill says its changes must not conflict with First Amendment rights.
The bill does not state overall implementation costs. A college program found to have a second qualifying violation within five years would face a fine of at least 10% of the federal assistance that program received for the relevant year. For a third qualifying violation within five years, the fine would be at least 33%. Additional fines could apply for later years when a violation continues for at least 90 days.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.