Education Department warns 60 colleges and universities to ‘do better’ to stop antisemitism on campus

The Education Department has warned 60 colleges and universities there will be consequences if they do not protect Jewish students on their respective campuses.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon‘s Office of Civil Rights issued the warning in a letter Monday, reminding the institutions, federal funding recipients that are all under investigation or monitoring for potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act regarding antisemitism harassment and discrimination, that they risked enforcement actions if they do not ensure that Jewish students, for example, have uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.

“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,” McMahon wrote in a statement. “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 anti-discrimination laws.”

Under Title VI and after President Donald Trump signed his executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism,” the Education Department launched investigations into five institutions following reports of antisemitic harassment. The 55 additional institutions are under investigation or monitoring in response to similar complaints filed with the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights.

Last week, the Education Department, in partnership with other members of the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, including the Justice Department, the Health and Human Services Department, and the General Services Administration, announced the cancelation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University because of the school’s “continued inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination,” according to Education Department.

The repeal of Columbia’s federal grants and contracts prompted Harvard University to announce Monday it was implementing an immediate hiring freeze because of the possibility Trump could make the same decision regarding Harvard.

The letter also coincides with the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and leader of Columbia’s encampment movement last year, whose green card was revoked last week because of his “activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” according to Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.

The recent Columbia graduate and permanent resident negotiated on behalf of the campus protesters who sought to have Columbia divest from Israel over its war with Hamas in Gaza. Khalil’s pregnant wife is a U.S. citizen.

Last week, the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights additionally directed its enforcement staff to make addressing the backlog of complaints related to antisemitic violence and harassment a priority.  

Here are the colleges and universities that were sent the Education Department’s letter:

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