The department will investigate Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. The move came after students and outsiders at dozens of universities across the country created encampments on campus in favor of the boycott, divest, sanction movement, which asked for universities to divest from any entity associated with Israel.
“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,” said Craig Trainor, DOE’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights. “The Biden Administration’s toothless resolution agreements did shamefully little to hold those institutions accountable.”
The investigation was opened under the department’s Office of Civil Rights for allegations of Title VI. That statute protects students from discrimination based on their national origin.
“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,” Trainor added.
Columbia is perhaps the most notable of the schools being investigated because of how the pro-Palestinian protests there unfolded. The protests resulted in the campus closing its access to the public, students being forcefully removed from an administrative building, and its graduation ceremony canceled. The school’s former president, Minouche Shafik, stepped down from her post as a result of the protests.
Northwestern was the first school in the United States to come to an agreement with the protesters. All tents and sound speakers were ordered to come down immediately.
The university also agreed to fund two visiting Palestinian faculty members, provide five scholarships to Palestinian students for the entirety of their undergraduate careers, and renovate a community building to use as a space for Middle Eastern, North African, and Muslim students.
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In response to the DOE’s investigation, Northwestern said the school is “confident in the actions we have taken to address antisemitism on our campus, including updating our Student Code of Conduct, our disciplinary procedures and making investments in public safety. We continue to work tirelessly to make our university a safe and non-discriminatory educational institution.”
It is unclear who would head the investigation if President Donald Trump’s administration is successful in gutting the DOE. Trump’s team is currently considering an executive order to dismantle the department.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
