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CasteFiles, an advocacy Thinktank committed to protecting civil rights, has filed a Title VI complaint against Rutgers University and Professor Audrey Truschke, citing failure by Rutgers to implement measures to protect its students, thus depriving them of their right to an education free from harassment and discrimination, as guaranteed by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Recently, a Rutgers University task force, co-chaired by Professor Truschke, released a report titled ‘Caste Based Discrimination in U.S. Higher Education at Rutgers.’
CasteFiles is concerned that this caste report follows the precedent of previous attempts, perpetuating the unscientific, unproven caste discrimination narrative entirely based on flimsy anecdotal hearsay.
The task force (co-chaired by Prof. Truschke) admits that there is no systematic data at Rutgers, in New Jersey, or across the U.S. to prove that Hindu Americans discriminate based on caste. Five flimsy anecdotal testimonies are the basis for the task force's recommendation for Rutgers to add caste as a protected category to its nondiscrimination policy.
“It is questionable why a university would violate equal treatment clauses to release a report that relies on flimsy anecdotes – especially when it has a large population of Indian origin students on campus and no data to support evidence of caste discrimination,” said Richa Gautam, CasteFiles Founder.
But Rutgers University may be a habitual offender according to research conducted by Abhijit Bagal, Director of CasteFiles. He emphasized Rutgers University's failure to protect its students from discrimination and harassment, referencing several recent complaints and lawsuits that highlight the university's shortcomings.
Notable mentions where Rutgers was challenged for non-inclusivity recently, include:
1. A Federal Civil Rights Complaint concerning Antisemitic harassment at Rutgers University filed by the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) on December 5, 2023.
2. A Civil Action Lawsuit filed at the Superior Court of NJ, Essex County, concerning Antisemitic discrimination by Yoel Ackerman, a Jewish student at Rutgers, on January 2, 2024.
3. A Federal Civil Rights Complaint concerning Anti-Palestinian discrimination at Rutgers University filed by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (A.D.C.) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations – New Jersey (CAIR-NJ) on April 23, 2024.
4. A Federal Civil Rights Complaint concerning discrimination on the grounds of Race and National origin at Rutgers University filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) and Young America's Foundation (Y.A.F.) on May 6, 2024.
5. The Hindu students at Rutgers have voiced numerous complaints against Professor Truschke in the past by writing to Rutgers leadership: “We, the students at Rutgers University, are writing to you regarding actions that have shaken the foundation of our beliefs of Rutgers being a place that welcomes minorities and stands for the principles of diversity and inclusion. Specifically, we bring to your attention the recent and continued actions of Professor Audrey Truschke, who teaches South Asian History at Rutgers Newark.
However, Rutgers' leadership did nothing to address these concerns; instead, it gave Professor Truschke a free pass in the name of academic freedom of speech. Not only that, but Rutgers also made Professor Truschke co-chair of the caste task force, knowing fully well her history of anti-Hindu discriminatory animus. This decision, according to CasteFiles, indicates Rutgers' apathy towards its Hindu students and even complicity in the underlying motive to target Hindu students using the colonial caste trope without substantial evidence.
CasteFiles urges Rutgers University to take immediate action to protect all students from discrimination and harassment and to uphold the values of diversity and inclusion as intended by the Civil Rights Act.
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