On Monday, the Department of Education (DoE) announced investigations into five colleges surrounding antisemitism. The investigations stem from President Donald Trump’s executive order to combat antisemitism at American universities.
According to a press release, the DoE’s “Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is opening the investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which protects students from discrimination and harassment based on national origin, including shared ancestry.” The DoE is investigating: Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, The University of California, Berkeley and The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
The investigations are in response to the increase of antisemitism on American college campuses following the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.
The DoE is also forming a task force with the Department of Justice to combat antisemitism in line with Trump’s executive order. Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell, said in a statement, “Anti-Semitism in any environment is repugnant to this Nation’s ideals. The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found. The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump’s renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools.”
Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, said in a statement, “Too many universities have tolerated widespread antisemitic harassment and the illegal encampments that paralyzed campus life last year, driving Jewish life and religious expression underground. The Biden Administration’s toothless resolution agreements did shamefully little to hold those institutions accountable. Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses, nor will it stand by idly if universities fail to combat Jew-hatred and the unlawful harassment and violence it animates.”
These investigations build upon on the work of of the House member Virginia Foxx, who found that university administrations “overwhelmingly failed” to impose discipline on those that were engaging in antisemitic conduct, and made “astounding concessions to the organizers of illegal encampments” on college campuses.