60 universities will face consequences if they fail to protect Jewish students, Dept. of Education warns
The U.S. Department of Education sent letters to 60 universities warning they are under investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for violations related to anti-Semitism.
The Department also announced an initiative to resolve the 'backlog of complaints' of anti-Semitism under the Biden administration.
The U.S. Department of Education sent letters to 60 academic institutions warning they will face consequences if they do not protect Jewish students on campus, per its Monday press release.
The universities listed are currently under investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for violations of Title VI concerning antisemitic violence or discrimination.
The list of institutions includes elite universities like Columbia University, Harvard University, and Stanford University.
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“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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated in the press release.
The letters urge that universities must protect Jewish students, “including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities,” and note that receiving federal funding is a “privilege” that is “contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal anti-discrimination laws.”
Campus Reform recently reported the Trump administration’s cancellation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University over the university’s lack of response to incidents of campus anti-Semitism.
Following Columbia’s grant cancellation, the Department of Education announced an initiative to resolve the “backlog of complaints” of antisemitic harassment and violence at academic institutions under the Biden administration, a press release states.
Over 140 complaints were filed and over 70 of them were left unreviewed under the Office for Civil Rights under the Biden administration, Fox News reports.
“For the relatively few complaints actually resolved, the prior Administration’s Assistant Secretary signed off on toothless resolution agreements that provided little to no remedy for Jewish students to this day,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor, per the press release.
”The Trump Administration will not permit anti-Semitic protesters and antagonists to take over campus facilities and terrorize Jewish students and staff with impunity,” he stated.
