When a federal investigator contacted Jewish studies professor Jeffrey Blutinger in September to hear about his experiences with antisemitism at Cal State Long Beach, he thought to himself: It’s about time.
Blutinger, director of the Jewish studies program at his campus, isn’t the only person answering such a call. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which enforces anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, is investigating the entire California State University system over allegations of antisemitism.
CSU Chancellor Mildred García informed faculty and staff about the investigation in a systemwide email on Friday. Her email, which was seen by J., also mentioned a second inquiry targeting the CSU system by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, tied to “alleged racial discrimination” in faculty job postings.
García’s email added that EEOC investigators had already begun trying to contact some faculty and staff.
The EEOC’s antisemitism probe of all 22 CSU campuses comes as the Department of Justice, along with the EEOC, continues its investigation into all 10 University of California campuses.
Some CSU professors worry that the EEOC investigation will do more harm than good. Critics of the Trump administration see the campus probes as ideological crackdowns that have little to do with supporting Jewish students, faculty and staff.
“I am concerned that it will have the opposite effect of the intention,” Philip Heller, an associate professor of computer science at San Jose State University, told J. on Monday. “Obviously, the intention is to improve Jewish welfare in the system, and I’m concerned that it’s going to inflame antisemitism.”
For his part, Blutinger said the investigation is warranted.
“I welcome the investigation,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I’m happy with what the Trump administration is doing, but the situation in the CSU is quite severe.”
Blutinger has first-hand experience with anti-Zionist protesters threatening his safety. In February 2024, he was invited to San Jose State to give a lecture on peace building between Israelis and Palestinians. The lecture was interrupted by protesters who had posted on social media: “Zionists are not welcome here.” Police escorted Blutinger through campus for his safety.
“First they had to move [the lecture] out of the library because there were threats against me, and then they moved it to a classroom. After 15 minutes, the police came into the classroom, told me to stop teaching,” Blutinger recalled. “They were evacuating me. I had never had that happen to me before.”
Blutinger submitted a complaint to the EEOC last year that was not actually investigated, he said he told the federal investigators.
In May 2024, amid intense anti-Israel and anti-Zionist rallies and the presence of pro-Palestinian encampments on several CSU campuses, Blutinger helped draft a letter to the chancellor. It was signed by 156 current and former Jewish faculty and staff members across a number of CSU campuses and called for numerous steps to improve safety on campuses for American and Israeli Jews.
Blutinger said the EEOC contacted him in September after seeing his name on the letter.
Jewish faculty and staff at Sonoma State, Sacramento State and San Jose State were also among the signatories.
Arik Davidyan, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences at Sacramento State and a signatory to the letter, confirmed to J. on Tuesday that he had been interviewed by investigators the previous week.
Blutinger said he spent about 80 minutes speaking with an investigator over Zoom.
Once he had the ears of federal investigators, Blutinger “brought them up to speed” on the San Jose State protest as well as what he described as a history of antisemitism at Cal State Long Beach.
“In 2019 there was a group of Jewish faculty and staff in our college. We wrote a white paper for the dean about antisemitism in our college…. And it got shoved in a drawer somewhere,” Blutinger told J. “What we’re complaining about isn’t new. It’s become more intense since Oct. 7. It seems to have intensified on steroids. But it isn’t new.”
The EEOC plans to interview faculty across all CSU campuses, according to Blutinger.
Heller, who is former president of the Jewish Faculty Association at San Jose State, said that one of his colleagues has already been interviewed by investigators and that he has consented to being contacted as well.
Heller said he was one of four Jewish faculty members, Blutinger included, present in the classroom during the February 2024 incident amid Blutinger’s visit.
Describing that episode as traumatic, Heller said that he is on leave and not currently teaching.
“I and other campus Jews have tried ever since Oct. 7 of ’23 to get the attention of high-level administration, and there’s simply no response,” Heller said. “They’re not responding to messages from below. So we’re going to have to see what happens with messages from above,” he said of the EEOC investigation.
In her Friday email, Chancellor Garcia promised to fully cooperate with the investigation and reiterated CSU’s commitment to inclusivity.
“Please know with absolute certainty that we will continue to advance the CSU’s mission through these and any challenges we face, just as we have throughout our 64-year history,” Garcia said in the email. “We, in partnership with our faculty and staff, will remain focused on our North Star — the success of our students.”