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<\/a><\/p>\nThe “Kairos” co-op house at Stanford was suspended for discriminating against Jewish students. (Google Maps)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The investigation into the co-op house, called Kairos, began last spring after multiple reports were filed alleging that Jewish students participating in an unnamed extracurricular activity were \u201casked to leave the house and told that, among other things, the presence of \u2018Zionists\u2019 in the group was making residents of the house uncomfortable,\u201d Stanford said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Following an investigation, the school\u2019s Title VI office found that the unnamed extracurricular project had \u201cnothing to do with the Middle East and that none of the students present had shared their political beliefs,\u201d according to the school.<\/p>\n
As a result, the school found that the students involved were \u201ctargeted based on their perceived Jewish identity\u201d \u2014 a pattern that Jewish students have reported on campuses across the country during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that has triggered widespread protests against Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is simply not acceptable that Jewish students would be excluded from a university space, or asked to explain their political beliefs to remain in that space,\u201d Stanford\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n
The suspension serves as an \u201cimportant signal to the whole campus that everyone at Stanford belongs, and discrimination won\u2019t be tolerated,\u201d Jessica Oleon Kirschner, the executive director and senior rabbi of Hillel at Stanford, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it is distressing that any students would act in discriminatory ways towards each other, we are reassured that the university has acted swiftly and decisively to protect Jewish students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The now-suspended co-op house, which was established in 1988, is one of several other Stanford-owned and student-managed residences on the campus, many of which host programming that is open to non-members. Prior to the suspension, the theme of Kairos was \u201cBIPOC solidarity and\/or arts appreciation,\u201d according to the Stanford website.<\/p>\n
It has hosted events for the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, according to posts on Instagram, and last year required those applying to join to commit to several values, including advocating for a \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and the \u201cLandback\u201d movement to restore land to Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n
The suspension follows a separate series of complaints filed against the co-op during the previous school year about \u201cstudents being required to make disparaging statements about Israel before being allowed to enter a party at the house,\u201d according to the statement.<\/p>\n
The school said that while steps had been taken to address the complaints against the house that year, in light of the severity of the recent incident of antisemitic discrimination, \u201cthe university has determined that stronger remedial steps are now needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The co-op will now operate under university management and oversight during the suspension period, which will last at least a year, according to the university.<\/p>\n
Last April, Stanford received a bump in its antisemitism \u201cgrade\u201d by the Anti-Defamation League, rising from a D-grade to a C-grade, although the organization still has a \u201chigh\u201d risk of \u201ccampus conduct and climate concerns,\u201d according to the ADL\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
Stanford was on a list of 60 colleges and universities that the Trump administration warned in March could face potential \u201cenforcement actions\u201d because of their records on antisemitism. But so far the elite university has evaded the kind of targeting that the administration has directed toward some of its East Coast counterparts. Still, the school announced last month that it expects to make sweeping layoffs because of Trump\u2019s cuts to research funding.<\/p>\n