Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel is pushing for legislation to require every college and university in the state to publicly designate a coordinator to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — a significant expansion of the coordinator mandate already in place for K-12 public schools in Maryland.

“It’s an issue that I take really personally and seriously, and I have heard from a bunch of college students and parents who are really concerned,” Vogel told Jewish Insider. The bill, introduced earlier this month, comes as U.S. college students have faced a 477% increase in antisemitic attacks on campuses between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

According to Vogel, the effort will ensure that each institution designates a single point person responsible for coordinating compliance with Title VI. “I’m sponsoring this because students don’t really have a clear way to elevate concerns and complaints,” Vogel said. “They don’t have clear direction as to who they are supposed to go to when dealing with this on campus… in any case of discrimination there needs to be someone that you can go to and get clear support.”  

Several campuses, including New York University, have designated a Title VI coordinator, in charge of elevating cases to the Department of Education (in NYU’s case, the move came following a lawsuit alleging antisemitism on the campus in 2019). But if Vogel’s bill passes, Maryland would become the first state to require such a post. “There is a real demand for more training and a more holistic response to the rise of antisemitism we are seeing in schools,” he said. “These Title VI coordinators should be empowered to be able to lead.  

Title VI was expanded in 2019, under then-President Donald Trump, to include antisemitic acts. In Maryland, K-12 public schools already require a Title VI coordinator on record with the federal Department of Education. But according to Vogel, “families and students [don’t] know who to go to for support. It should be as clear as possible who to go to for complaints,” he said. The bill would require details about the Title VI coordinator “to be publicly available information for students, families and educators to know where to direct Title VI concerns,” Vogel said. 

Vogel has worked closely with the ADL on the legislation. Jonathan Allen, ADL’s assistant director of government relations who leads federal lobbying on education policy, told JI that “this common-sense solution, modeled after the efficacy of Title IX [a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in programs that receive federal funding] coordinators across the country, will help protect students in this dire moment.” 

“ADL has long advocated for Title VI coordinators at K-12 schools, colleges and universities across the country,” Allen said. “Del. Vogel’s legislation is a critical first step in getting there, and ADL’s D.C. regional office will be working to support this initiative.”

Vogel does not anticipate pushback to the bill when the state General Assembly returns to session next month, because Title VI protects a variety of groups from bias and discrimination. “There should be no controversy,” Vogel said. “It’s not just for the Jewish community, so I hope we are able to build a widespread coalition that does not want more hate and intolerance on our campuses. But we know that the Jewish community, in particular, is facing a devastating surge of antisemitism on campuses.”    

“This should be an effort nationwide. Maybe there will be federal action,” Vogel said, “but for now, we’ll hope that Maryland leads the way.”