NYU will hire its first Title VI coordinator by the end of the calendar year, a university spokesperson told WSN. The university is among the first higher education institutions to create such a position.

The coordinator will work within the Office of Equal Opportunity to oversee NYU’s compliance with issues concerning discrimination and harassment based on race, color and national origin. The appointee will oversee on-campus Title VI investigations and complaints, as well as training and education assignments for students and faculty. The position will also entail an annual report on university conduct for NYU’s board of trustees. 

The creation of the new position came after NYU reached a confidential settlement in a lawsuit filed by three Jewish students who had accused the university of being indifferent toward incidents of antisemitism. NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement that the university had not received “much specific feedback” from the NYU community about the position.

“From NYU’s perspective, we see this position as beneficial, ensuring that NYU responds adequately and consistently to allegations of discrimination and harassment based on all protected traits,” Beckman said. 

The responsibilities of the Title VI coordinator are “meant to parallel” that of the university’s existing Title IX coordinator, which include overseeing student complaints and providing education and training compliant with NYU’s policies.

In July, the university said this would be part of its “vigorous efforts to confront discrimination” on campus. NYU also said it will also allocate more resources to Hebrew and Judaic studies at its Center for the Study of Antisemitism — which opened in May — and strengthen its relationship with Tel Aviv University.

The university also reaffirmed its commitment to using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which has faced backlash from pro-Palestinian groups on campus. In his statement to WSN, Beckman said the definition was part of a 2020 agreement with the U.S. Department of Education and is not included as part of the Title VI coordinator’s responsibilities. 

NYU’s Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine recently condemned the university’s adoption of the IHRA definition in a statement criticizing changes to its student conduct guidelines, which now include “code words, like ‘Zionist,’” as examples of potentially discriminatory speech. In response to the criticism, Beckman clarified in a public statement the update was to provide “further guidance” and that it would not change current policies.  

NYU will join a growing group of schools, including Stanford University and Rutgers University, with a designated Title VI coordinator. Most recently, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign added the position as part of a resolution to a complaint related to discrimination on campus. 

Contact Dharma Niles at [email protected].