Following an executive order — signed Jan. 29 — designed to combat antisemitism, the U.S. Department of Education launched investigations into five institutions of higher education Monday, including Northwestern.
According to a Department of Education press release, widespread antisemitic activity has been reported at each of the five institutions, which includes Columbia University, Portland State University, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and NU.
“The investigations are 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’s website said.
The Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened the investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which “protects students from discrimination and harassment based on national origin, including shared ancestry.”
These investigations follow a Dec. 18 U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report on Antisemitism, which found a “troubling rise of hate and extremism” at universities, including NU.
In the report, University President Michael Schill was singled out for misleading Congress, “actively entertain(ing) the request” to hire an “anti-Zionist rabbi,” and putting “anti-Israel faculty” in charge of negotiations to end the encampment on Deering Meadow, among other allegations.
The Department of Education will work with the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct these investigations and combat antisemitism.
“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,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in the press release.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Northwestern responds to House committee antisemitism report