Perkins Library at Duke University in Durham, NC. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Duke University has resolved a complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the aftermath of an antisemitic and anti-Israel conference last year.

“Conflict Over Gaza: People, Politics and Possibilities” reportedly used $5,000 of taxpayer funds from the US Education Department.

The resolution agreement required Duke to issue a statement by Jan. 30 condemning discrimination, including antisemitism, in addition to submitting an updated version of the school’s Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct to OCR.

The updated policy “must provide a description of the forms of antisemitism that can manifest in the university environment,” according to the agreement.

Kimberly Hewitt, Duke’s vice president for institutional equity and chief diversity officer, emailed a statement to the university community on Jan. 29.

“Simply put, the university does not tolerate antisemitism, and I encourage any member of the community to report when such conduct occurs,” said Hewitt in her statement, which encouraged Duke members to report antisemitic and sexual misconduct to the Office of Institutional Equity and the Office of Student Conduct, respectively.

Duke is also mandated to host a meeting during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years permitting university members to discuss misconduct. The specific dates of the meetings have not yet been determined.