ASU among 60 universities under federal investigation for antisemitic discrimination
TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily/AP) — The U.S. Department of Education has sent a letter to 60 universities, including Arizona State University, that they are under investigation for possible civil rights violations toward Jewish students.
“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 announcement comes after Trump’s executive order established additional measures aimed at combatting antisemitism.
The Education Department launched directed investigations into five universities where antisemitic harassment was reported. An additional 55 universities are considered under investigation or monitoring after complaints were filed with the Office for Civil Rights.
The Associated Press reported that Trump’s plan to fight antisemitism would “marshal all federal resources” and bring immediate action from the Justice Department to investigate and punish offenders on U.S. campuses.
It calls for the deportation of “nonresident aliens who violate our laws,” citing previous threats by Trump to revoke student visas for international students who attended pro-Palestinian protests.
Trump’s action promises to “protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.”
It drew swift backlash from civil rights groups who said campus protests have mostly been peaceful and are protected by constitutional free speech rights.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, national deputy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the action is discriminatory and wrongly characterizes protesters as “pro-jihadist” or “pro-Hamas.”
“These college students were Jewish, Muslim, Black, Palestinian and various other races who were simply protesting what they viewed as a genocide in Gaza,” Mitchell said. “They are no different than the students who protested Vietnam or segregation or apartheid in South Africa.”
The Biden administration opened more than 100 investigations into alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia at schools and universities after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. A flurry of schools reached deals to settle the cases before Trump took office amid fears that he would issue heavier sanctions.
Which schools are under investigation?
- American University
- Arizona State University
- Boston University
- Brown University
- California State University, Sacramento
- Chapman University
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Drexel University
- Eastern Washington University
- Emerson College
- George Mason University
- Harvard University
- Illinois Wesleyan University
- Indiana University, Bloomington
- Johns Hopkins University
- Lafayette College
- Lehigh University
- Middlebury College
- Muhlenberg College
- Northwestern University
- Ohio State University
- Pacific Lutheran University
- Pomona College
- Portland State University
- Princeton University
- Rutgers University
- Rutgers University-Newark
- Santa Monica College
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Stanford University
- State University of New York Binghamton
- State University of New York Rockland
- State University of New York, Purchase
- Swarthmore College
- Temple University
- The New School
- Tufts University
- Tulane University
- Union College
- University of California Davis
- University of California San Diego
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Hawaii at Manoa
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of North Carolina
- University of South Florida
- University of Southern California
- University of Tampa
- University of Tennessee
- University of Virginia
- University of Washington-Seattle
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Wellesley College
- Whitman College
- Yale University
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