The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation Tuesday into Northwestern’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin.

The investigation is the result of a complaint filed by Zachary Marschall, the editor in chief of Campus Reform — a self-proclaimed “conservative watchdog” of higher education. The complaint alleges the University failed to adequately respond to what Marschall called incidents of antisemitism, according to a Department of Education letter published by the website. 

Marschall’s complaint cited October events including a vigil to honor lives lost in Gaza and a walkout calling for support of Palestinians, both hosted by NU Students for Justice in Palestine, as incidents of antisemitic harassment.

“I submitted the complaint as a journalist deeply concerned about the campus environment for Jewish students,” Marschall told The Daily.

University spokesperson Jon Yates told The Daily the University does not tolerate antisemitism or other discriminatory acts.

“The University will respond to the Department of Education and cooperate with its investigation,” Yates said. “The complaint against Northwestern was not filed by a member of our community but instead by an outside organization.”

The department has opened investigations into dozens of other universities for discrimination against Jewish students based on shared ancestry, including Arizona State University and Yale University most recently. 

The investigations come as Israel’s continued ground and air offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians — according to Palestinian officials — following the militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 Israelis, according to Israeli officials.

Yates added that the investigation will not affect the work of the President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate. University President Michael Schill published names of  committee members Tuesday after announcing the group in November.

This story has been updated to include a comment from Campus Reform Editor in Chief Zachary Marschall.

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