TRUMP’S LATEST “HITLERIAN” MOVE???: A DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education 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. The letters are addressed to all U.S. universities that are presently under investigation for Title VI violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination. 

“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,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “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:  

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

Background: 

The Department’s OCR sent these letters under its authority to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which prohibits any institution that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color, and national origin. National origin includes shared (Jewish) ancestry. 

Pursuant to Title VI and in furtherance of President Trump’s Executive Order “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism,” the Department launched directed investigations into five universities where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported. The 55 additional universities are under investigation or monitoring in response to complaints filed with OCR. Last week, the Department, alongside fellow members of the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. General Services Administration, announced the immediate cancelation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to the school’s continued inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination. Last Friday, OCR directed its enforcement staff to make resolving the backlog of complaints alleging antisemitic violence and harassment, many which were allowed to languish unresolved under the previous administration, an immediate priority.