To the Editor:

Your Ticker item about the Zionist Organization of America's exposing the possibility that the Muslim Student Union at the University of California at Irvine raised money for Hamas was inaccurate ("Terrorist Ties to a Campus Speech? U. of California at Irvine Asks U.S. to Investigate," The Chronicle, October 14).

You erroneously stated that federal officials "cleared the university of allegations that it had failed to respond promptly and effectively to complaints that Jewish students were harassed." In fact, there were three or four campus incidents regarding which the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights concluded that the university's response was appropriate—a conclusion not supported by the evidence and one basis of our pending appeal. Most of the allegations we made weren't even investigated. As to some, it was because the Office for Civil Rights determined that the allegations weren't timely made (a finding we've contested on appeal). As to most of the others, the Office for Civil Rights concluded that it didn't have subject-matter jurisdiction even to consider the allegations. It's clear from the decision that the Office for Civil Rights had narrowed its interpretation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the legal basis of the Zionist Organization of America's complaint. According to the Office for Civil Rights, Jewish students were no longer protected under the law. In light of that interpretation, the evidence we presented about the anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation at UC-Irvine, and the university's response to the problem, became irrelevant.

Your item also failed to note that in 2008, the Office for Civil Rights initiated a second investigation into UC-Irvine's response to campus anti-Semitism, also triggered by the Zionist Organization of America's allegations on behalf of Jewish students. We are still awaiting a decision.

Susan B. Tuchman
Director, Center for Law and Justice
Zionist Organization of America
New York