HAF asks Office of Civil Rights to investigate Univ. of Pennsylvania’s role in Hinduphobic conference

Writing to Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Suzanne Goldberg and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement Randolph Wills today, HAF has asked the Office of Civil Rights to:

“Investigate and determine whether the University of Pennsylvania and University of Pennsylvania’s Department of South Asia Studies, South Asia Center (a National Resource Center), and key associated faculty created a hostile environment for students and faculty of Indian and Hindu descent, and whether the same entities and individuals misused any federal funds by 1) planning, sponsoring, hosting, and/or participating in a one sided conference about India and Hindus which promoted negative stereotypes, slurs, and distorted facts; and 2) developing and promoting a “harassment field manual” that promotes negative stereotypes, slurs, and distorted facts about Hindus, denies Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu hatred, and specifically targets Hindu students for censure and marginalization in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title VI of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.”

Under Title VI, programs and activities receiving any Federal financial assistance from the US Department of Education must operate in a non-discriminatory manner in regards to “race, color, or national origin.” The Department views Hindus as “examples of individuals who may be harassed for being viewed as part of a group that exhibits both ethnic and religious characteristics.”

“Prior to the DGH conference, thousands of letters of concern, including our own, were received by the University of Pennsylvania, informing the university that despite disclaimers alleging that “dismantling” Hinduism was not an aim of the conference, the featured speakers and their history of anti-Hindu activism, meant that the event would be one-sided and likely endorse negative stereotypes, slurs, and distorted facts about Hindus,” said HAF Executive Director Suhag Shukla. “We asked the University to ensure that it not create a hostile environment for Hindu students and faculty that make them vulnerable to censure, harassment, or retaliation by associating itself with anti-Hindu rhetoric that this event would promote — as it, in fact, did. These calls were ignored, leaving us no choice but to pursue a formal complaint with the Department of Education.”

HAF is seeking the following remedies from the University of Pennsylvania:

1. A public statement condemning the negative stereotypes, slurs, and distorted facts promoted at the conference as well as in the field manual;
2. An acknowledgement of the existence of Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu hatred, and expression of zero-tolerance of the same;
3. A public restatement of commitment to open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive engagement with diverging perspectives;
4. Mandatory training on rights and responsibilities under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Higher Education Opportunity Act and greater oversight of the South Asia Center at Penn, and its use of federal assistance;
5. Sharing of support services for Indian and South Asian Hindu students and faculty facing hostility, harassment, or retaliation.