Trump Administration Mobilizing Against Campus Anti-Semitism

Follow Steve Postal: @HebraicMosaic

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The Trump administration is continuing to mobilize against anti-Semitism on college campuses. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent letters to 60 colleges and universities warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964) prohibits any institution that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color, and national origin. National origin includes shared (Jewish) ancestry.

All 60 colleges and universities receiving the letters are currently under investigation for Title VI violations relating to anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination.

According to the Department of Education’s press release, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated that “The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better…U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”

The schools that received letters from the Office for Civil Rights include six of the eight Ivy League schools: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University , Princeton University, and Yale University. The other 54 schools were:

1. American University
2. Arizona State University
3. Boston University
4. California State University, Sacramento
5. Chapman University
6. Drexel University
7. Eastern Washington University
8. Emerson College
9. George Mason University
10. Illinois Wesleyan University
11. Indiana University, Bloomington
12. Johns Hopkins University
13. Lafayette College
14. Lehigh University
15. Middlebury College
16. Muhlenberg College
17. Northwestern University
18. Ohio State University
19. Pacific Lutheran University
20. Pomona College
21. Portland State University
22. Rutgers University
23. Rutgers University-Newark
24. Santa Monica College
25. Sarah Lawrence College
26. Stanford University
27. State University of New York Binghamton
28. State University of New York Rockland
29. State University of New York, Purchase
30. Swarthmore College
31. Temple University
32. The New School
33. Tufts University
34. Tulane University
35. Union College
36. University of California Davis
37. University of California San Diego
38. University of California Santa Barbara
39. University of California, Berkeley
40. University of Cincinnati
41. University of Hawaii at Manoa
42. University of Massachusetts Amherst
43. University of Michigan
44. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
45. University of North Carolina
46. University of South Florida
47. University of Southern California
48. University of Tampa
49. University of Tennessee
50. University of Virginia
51. University of Washington-Seattle
52. University of Wisconsin, Madison
53. Wellesley College
54. Whitman College

This letter follows the Trump administration earlier this month rescinding $400 million in grants to Columbia University, and the review of over $5 billion in total grants, over concerns regarding the university’s failure to address anti-Semitism on campus. In February, the Department of Education has also initiated targeted investigations of five universities over anti-Semitism, including: Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, The University of California, Berkeley, and The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

In early February, the Trump administration has also established a joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, including the departments of Education, Justice, Health and Human Services, and potentially other departments in the future. According to the Department of Justice, the Task Force’s first goal will be to “root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.”

In late January, the White House published “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” where it stated that “It shall be the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.” The White House’s Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism document originally had a dedicated section for “Additional Measures to Combat Campus Anti-Semitism.”