The front entrance of Santa Monica College at Pico Blvd. and 20th Street in Santa Monica, Calif. on Feb. 22, 2024 with effect of broken glass overlay. Photo by Taylor Parise.

On Monday, Santa Monica College (SMC) received notice that the school is under investigation by the U.S. Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for “alleged harassment of students by a Professor based on national origin (shared Jewish ancestry).” This is the OCR’s second time adding SMC to the list of more than 120 other schools in the U.S. being investigated for Title VI discrimination since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.

SMC Senior Director of Government Relations and Institutional Communications Donald Girard confirmed that the school received a notice of the investigation. He stated, “This arises out of concerns expressed about an Ethnic Studies class.”

While the specific class has not yet been directly mentioned in conjunction with this investigation, substantial evidence points to an assignment from Professor Elias Serna’s Introduction to Ethnic Studies class.

Serna told the Corsair that he had not been informed of this investigation. “I did receive one complaint from one student about the wording of one question in an assignment which asked students to make a connection of a course reading to the current conflict in Gaza,” he said.

Serna said that he has been “doxxed” by “LA Mommies” and Canary Mission, which he says is a “right-wing conservative group that targets ‘leftist’ professors.” He added that there is a new nationwide censorship and self-censorship campaign around teaching about Palestine and critiques of Israel/Zionism.

On March 8, a screenshot from Serna’s assignment spread on social media. One of the questions in the assignment read, “What are your thoughts of the ongoing destruction and genocide by Israel in Palestine?”

StopAntisemitism posted the screenshot and Serna’s assignment on X, formerly Twitter, calling the wording of it “outrageous.” Users in the Mothers Against College Antisemitism Facebook group shared emails and phone numbers of administrators at SMC, encouraging others to “flood the school with emails.”

Two days later, President Kathryn Jeffrey of SMC released a statement in response to “numerous emails and calls from community members expressing concern about a particular assignment.”

The statement said SMC is “committed to open dialog and the free exchange of ideas for educators and students,” citing the institution’s legal obligation to academic freedom. It added, “The views expressed by individual faculty do not necessarily reflect the college’s values but, at the same time, are not considered prohibited conduct unless the speech or expression is unlawful,” it read.

In Girard’s response to the Corsair, he referenced Jeffrey’s release in association with the newest federal investigation into SMC.

“As the letter from OCR noted, ‘opening an investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to its merits.’ The College is confident it met its legal obligations under federal law and will fully cooperate and respond to the OCR investigation,” Girard stated.

The first investigation was launched on Dec. 4, 2023, after a complaint about an SMC Inter-Club Council (ICC) meeting denied installation of the Students Supporting Israel club on Oct. 19. SMC administration repealed this decision within less than 24 hours of the meeting, citing ICC bylaws that rendered the decision unconstitutional for club delegates to deny a club that met all of the basic requirements.

Jeffery and Vice President of Student Affairs Michael Tuitasi released a statement on Dec. 14, 2023, committing to increased safety measures for “confidential groups spaces” and an intolerance for discrimination. It also stated, “We will inform you of any final decision made.” There has not been any update on this initial investigation since.

While SMC now appears twice on the list of Title VI investigations, it is accompanied by a few of its neighbors. University of California, Los Angeles appears four times, and University of Southern California appears twice.

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