The UC Deal With OCR - Part 2 (to do list)

We earlier provided the basic documents that were involved in OCR's agreement with UC and UCLA to resolve civil rights complaints that stemmed from the protests and encampments.

Below is a summary of what UC is obligated to do from the Bruin:

...UC agreed to several terms with the OCR to rectify its Title VI compliance issues, according to the resolution agreement. The two parties first agreed that the OCR would review and approve any revisions to the University’s antidiscrimination policies and “guidelines that it uses to address its compliance with Title VI.”

The agreement also requires the UC to train its employees who investigate discrimination complaints for impartiality and effectiveness in response. Public safety officers who respond to or investigate discrimination incidents must also receive training on nondiscrimination requirements under Title VI, according to the agreement.

The University must provide documentation of this training to the OCR by Dec. 31, 2025, according to the agreement.

By Sept. 30, 2025, the OCR must also receive a file of the University’s – or each individual campus’ – response to discrimination complaints at UCSB, UCSC, UCSD, UC Davis and UCLA during the 2024-2025 academic year, according to the agreement.

These reports will include 23 data points at a minimum, including the supportive measures offered to the complainant, names of the individuals who engaged in discrimination, outcomes of the investigations, corrective actions taken and steps the University or individual campus took to eliminate a potential recurrence of the event.

The University must also develop voluntary “climate surveys” that include questions regarding a student’s knowledge of discriminatory acts against students or employees on the basis of shared ancestry or national origin, according to the agreement. The UC has also agreed to provide a report to the OCR regarding proposed actions based on the survey and, within 60 days of the OCR’s approval, must provide documentation of implementation of these actions.

“The University will analyze the results of the climate survey(s) within 90 calendar days of its completion to identify appropriate action(s) that the University and/or the individual University campuses will take to improve the climate at the campus and the University more broadly with respect to nondiscrimination based on national origin, including shared Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, and/or Arab ancestry,” the agreement said.

By Jan. 17, UC President Michael Drake must issue a statement to students and employees stating the University’s intolerance for discrimination, commitment to addressing such issues and ways to report harassment, according to the agreement. The UCLA chancellor must also send a campuswide message by the same deadline with a telephone number and email address to report discriminatory incidents, the agreement said.

UCLA must “promptly investigate” if students were blocked from accessing campus based on their Jewish or Israeli heritage, according to the agreement, as well as if faculty held classes or office hours within the encampment...

The OCR said in the agreement that it would provide the UC with a notice and 60 days to fix any potential violations of the contract that may occur. If the UC does not comply within 60 days, the Department of Education could initiate enforcement proceedings or refer the case to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2024/12/23/uc-reaches-agreement-with-education-department-over-title-vi-investigations.