Rutgers balks at creating separate prohibition against caste-based discrimination
Rutgers University, after a more than yearlong review, has declined to create a separate prohibition against caste-based discrimination, bucking a nationwide trend among colleges and universities.
The university made the
At once, the university said it would provide training to campus personnel so they could effectively recognize and deal with complaints related to caste discrimination.
The decision by one of the country’s largest universities was cheered by conservative Hindu organizations, which contend that creating a separate category barring caste discrimination would demonize Hindu students and faculty.
“Rutgers stands firmly against harassment and discrimination in all their forms,” said Dory Devlin, a Rutgers University spokesperson, who noted that questions related to caste discrimination would be added to the next campus climate survey.
Rutgers is among the most ethnically diverse universities in the nation, according to the administration. It has more than 69,000 students, of whom 82% are from New Jersey, according to the school. Rutgers said 27% of students are Asian American. It doesn’t separately list the size of the South Asian student population.
The decision by Rutgers
The Rutgers decision brought mixed reactions from Hindu organizations that have closely monitored the issue.
“We’re disappointed in the administration’s failure to adopt this much-needed civil rights policy,” said Pranay Somayajula, the director of organizing and advocacy at Hindus for Human Rights, a progressive group.
He said “university officials seemingly gave in to bad-faith pressure tactics from Hindu supremacist groups.”
“However, we are glad to see the university explicitly acknowledge for the first time that caste discrimination is prohibited at Rutgers, and we hope that the administration will make good on their promise to clearly communicate the fact that caste is covered under existing anti-discrimination policies to the campus community,” Somayajula said.
Some Hindu groups, including the Hindu American Foundation, a national organization, celebrated the university’s decision. In a Aug. 28 letter to the Rutgers Office of General Counsel, it argued that a separate category for caste would “necessarily and unconstitutionally single out and stigmatize students, faculty and staff of Indian origin.”
"We applaud Rutgers University for their decision restating existing university policy already protects against caste discrimination,” said Suhag Shukla, the executive director of the Hindu American Foundation.
“We will also continue to monitor closely any trainings or surveys the Rutgers Administration conducts to ensure that students are not treated differently on the basis of their race, ethnicity, or religion,” Shukla added, “and that Indian and Hindu American students are not falsely or negatively stereotyped as a matter of policy or process.”
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Audrey Truschke, a historian of South Asia at Rutgers who co-chaired a
“We had none of that 24 hours ago,” she said.
“Caste based discrimination is not a longstanding historical problem in the United States,” said Truschke. “As caste has become a bigger and bigger issue in many American communities, there’s a need to explicitly name and discuss it.”
