On January 13, following months of work by its Task Force on Caste Discrimination, Rutgers University has decided that discrimination based on caste is already covered under existing non-discrimination policy at the school and will not be creating a stand alone category of ‘caste’.
The move goes against the recommendation of the Task Force, which advised that ‘caste’ should be added as a separate protected class.
This is a victory for Hindu and South Asian students and faculty and advocacy groups, such as the Hindu American Foundation, which explained in written communication with Rutgers’ Office of General Counsel that creating a separate category of caste would break with the longstanding principle of facial neutrality that underpins equal protection and non-discrimination, and would thus unlawfully single out Hindu American and South Asian Indian American students and faculty for disparate treatment and additional legal scrutiny.
“We share the admirable goals of countering prejudice and discrimination, including caste or other forms of intra-racial or inter-ethnic discrimination,” HAF’s letter to Rutgers asserts, “But…the inclusion of ‘caste’ in your policies will necessarily and unconstitutionally single out and stigmatize students, faculty and staff of Indian origin as a matter of policy, and require ethno-religious profiling and disparate legal scrutiny on the basis of their race, national origin, ancestry, and religion. This would, as you know, violate Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, as well the US and State Constitutions.”
Commenting on the decision, HAF Executive Director Suhag Shukla stated:
“We applaud Rutgers University for their decision restating existing university policy already protects against caste discrimination. We will also continue to monitor closely any trainings or surveys the Rutgers Administration conducts to ensure that students are not treated differently on the basis of their race, ethnicity, or religion, and that South Asian and Hindu American students are not falsely or negatively stereotyped as a matter of policy or process.”
Rutgers’ decision follows in the footsteps of California Governor Newsom, who in 2023 vetoed legislation that would have established ‘caste’ as a protected category on similar grounds — existing categories under non-discrimination law can and should be used to address alleged instances of caste discrimination.
