Task force reads findings by Education Department

The independent task force investigating anti-Semitism at UCI plans to release its report early next year instead of at the end of 2007, committee spokesman Ted Bleiweis said Wednesday.

The group needs time to review recent interviews and findings by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

That report was released by UCI Tuesday.

The Orange County Independent Task Force was created in February by the Hillel Foundation of Orange County after several clashes between Muslim and Jewish students on campus.

The Hillel Foundation dropped its support for the task force over the summer, but task force members decided to push on independently.

Task force members said they are looking at anti-Semitism at UCI from a community standpoint, not necessarily a strictly legal one.

The committee’s “core” group comprises an attorney, a UCI professor and three members of the Jewish community.

The group continues to interview members of the university and others.

— Joseph Serna