Tensions over a federal civil-rights probe into the University of Vermont surged Friday as leading Jewish groups took on the president after he defended the school’s response to allegations of anti-Semitism now under federal probe.
Twenty Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and StandWithUs, said they were “alarmed, disappointed and troubled” by UVM President Suresh V. Garimella’s reaction to claims under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
“Simply put, President Garimella fails to condemn the existence of significant antisemitism on UVM’s campus,” said the statement.