Jewish, Muslim UConn students detail discrimination in 76 bias complaints

As students return to the University of Connecticut, Muslims and Jewish students want to know what the school is doing to protect them.  

Both groups of students say they faced discrimination and hate speech on campus, as detailed in 76 bias complaints filed during the war in Gaza.  

“I think there is an anti-Muslim problem on campus,” said Muneeb Syed, president of the UConn Muslim Student Association.  

The 76 complaints, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, are just a portion of the total number of bias complaints filed last school year, but all are directed at Muslim, pro-Palestinian or Jewish students. 

Students say the documents are a sign UConn needs to address the problem with fall semester classes starting Monday.  

“I feel very worried about returning to school,” UConn Hillel peer educator Haley Janush said.  

The complaints don’t detail 76 separate incidents, as some public events on campus sparked multiple complaints.  

They do, however, show highlight the tensions on campus starting with Hamas’s attack on Israel. The tensions continued throughout the year as Israel responded with ongoing fighting in Gaza.  

Complaints from Jewish students claim antisemitism almost immediately after the attack, including students defacing public displays for peace in Israel.  

Muslim and pro-Palestinian students soon followed with complaints that they were labeled terrorists or supporters of terrorism.  

UConn did not make anyone available for an interview, but did issue a lengthy written response to questions from NBC Connecticut.  

The university said it will address the issue as part of a message it plans to send to sends in the coming days.  

Spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz also said the complaints detail actions of a handful of students, and that problem is happening all over the country.   

“UConn’s trends mirror those of the state and nation,” Reitz said. “However, the university has and will continue to do all within its power to ensure its campuses are safe, respectful, and equitable spaces for people from all backgrounds.” 

Reitz also said the filing of a bias complaint alone is not proof someone violated UConn’s code of conduct.  

Some of the complaints detail public displays, including protests and signs. UConn is a public university, and Reitz noted public displays can be protected by the First Amendment even if they are offensive to some students.  

Others, though, were conversations, classroom discussions, emails and other encounters. 

NBC Connecticut is not revealing some of the complaints that did contain hate speech or vile language. Some invoked Nazis.  

“I feel this tension and feeling of uneasiness everywhere I go,” Janush said.  

The MSA received an email celebrating the death of Palestinians, at the time reported to be 8,000. The group did post a screenshot of the message on its Instagram page.  

“That was a very, very vulgar, very personal attack,” Syed said.  

The complaints continued through the end of the school year, including several in response to a pro-Palestinian tent encampment. The protest resulted in 26 arrests.  

Students from both groups say the protest highlights their concerns.  

Janush said the protest lasted too long. In fact, she feels the school is too easy on protests Jewish students view as hateful.  

She also felt UConn has been unresponsive to complaints of coverage in the student Daily Campus newspaper, which some Jewish students viewed as biased.  

“Too many times, Jewish voices have been silenced,” she said.  

Syed said the school is unfair to Muslims and pro-Palestinian supports, including changing policies during the protest to allow for a crackdown.  

He wants the school to issue a statement in solidarity with the 26 students who were arrested.  

“President Radenka Maric, she’s been, she’s been – she has played favorites,” he said.