President Donald Trump has promised a tougher fight against campus antisemitism than what his predecessor Joe Biden offered. But on Monday he signaled that at least one aspect of Biden’s approach would continue: Title VI civil rights investigations.
The federal Department of Education on Monday announced investigations into alleged “widespread antisemitic harassment” at five universities: Columbia; Northwestern; the University of California, Berkeley; Minnesota; and Portland State.
The department said its investigations were “in response to the explosion of antisemitism on American campuses following the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, 2023.”
The Department of Education will is joining at least two other federal departments, Justice and Health and Human Services, to form a new antisemitism task force under Trump whose first priority is “to root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.” Trump and his allies have previously suggested he could try to dissolve the education department and move campus antisemitism enforcement to the justice department instead.
The Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee both applauded the task force’s creation.
All five schools facing new investigations already had Title VI investigations opened against them under the Biden administration since Oct. 7. One, Northwestern, had already reached a resolution agreement, and another, Berkeley, had a case opened and later dropped — owing to an overlapping lawsuit filed against the school. The other three have active investigations, and Columbia has two. Dozens more Title VI investigations remain active, holdovers from the Biden era or earlier.
It was not immediately clear what allegations triggered the new investigations. The department’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for clarification. In the release, Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, denounced Biden-era agreements with schools as “toothless,” though it’s unclear if he would have the power to reopen them.
The Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which has pursued numerous legal and federal cases against schools for alleged antisemitic environments, applauded the Trump investigations. The center is currently suing UC Berkeley over alleged Title VI violations related to antisemitism, a lawsuit which the center said resulted in the school’s Title VI investigation being closed at the education department.
“The cavalry has arrived,” the center’s founder Kenneth Marcus, who ran the education department’s office of civil rights under Trump’s first term, said in a statement. “This is exactly the right step to be taking and the right time to be taking it. The administration is sending a clear message to the higher education community that the U.S. Department of Education is prioritizing the current anti-Semitism crisis.”
Marcus said the five investigations were all new, and were being proactively opened by the department, rather than hinging on outside complaints. This represents a shift in how the department addresses potential Title VI violations: under previous presidents, the office relied on others to file specific complaints that would then be investigated. With the new investigations, Marcus said, the department could open them first and wait until later to determine their actual scope.
All five of the schools in Trump’s crosshairs are located in urban enclaves in blue states and have attracted media attention for pro-Palestinian protests. Columbia was the birthplace of the encampment movement, while Northwestern was one of the first schools to strike a peaceful deal with its encampment protesters. Minnesota, too, notably agreed to its encampment’s demand to hold a vote on divesting from Israel, which failed.
Berkeley and Portland State have both been the site of violent pro-Palestinian activism, including physical takeovers of entire areas of campus.
In response to the new investigation, Columbia said in a statement, “We look forward to ongoing work with the new federal administration to combat antisemitism and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff.” The university also pointed to a new “Office of Institutional Equity” it had formed under its interim president which it said would more easily address the problem (Trump has made it a top priority of his administration to root out federal diversity, equity and inclusion offices).
“We are resolute that calling for, promoting, or glorifying violence or terror has no place at our University,” the Columbia statement added. This week a Jewish professor announced his departure from the university citing “systematic” anti-Israel bias on campus.
A confirmation hearing for Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for education secretary, has yet to be scheduled.
This story has been updated with additional information about the new Title VI investigations and with a statement from Columbia University.
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