The Education Department expanded its civil rights investigation of alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia this week to include one Georgia school district and five colleges.
The probe is a part of the Biden administration’s effort to crack down on the “alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and other forms of discrimination and harassment” on school campuses across the country, the department said in a statement. It did not specify what types of reports came from which schools.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights opened similar investigations into the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard, Columbia and Cornell universities last month, and Penn’s president resigned Saturday after criticism of her congressional hearing this week.
Important context
College campuses have been the site of pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that left at least 1,200 Israelis dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign against Hamas has caused serious destruction in the densely populated Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip, which Hams rules and where at least 17,700 people have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Israel-Gaza war has inflamed tensions over the rights of Palestinians and the security of the Jewish state. It has also led to a rise in reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents on school campuses.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/IAUHSJIVMQ25FWSEERFRJPIEXE.jpg)
Which schools are under investigation?
More than a dozen schools are under investigation, according to a list the Education Department updates weekly.
1. Montana State University
2. Tulane University (Louisiana)
3. Union College (New York)
4. University of Cincinnati (Ohio)
5. Santa Monica College (California)
6. Harvard University (Massachusetts)
7. University of Tampa (Florida)
8. Columbia University (New York)
9. Cornell University (New York)
10. Lafayette College (Pennsylvania)
11. Wellesley College (Massachusetts)
12. University of Pennsylvania
13. Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (New York)
Five school districts are under investigation as well.
1. Cobb County School District (Georgia)
2. New York City Department of Education
3. Clark County School District (Nevada)
4. Hillsborough County Schools (Florida)
5. Maize Unified School District (Kansas)
What are they accused of?
The schools are being investigated for allegedly violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin, including harassment based on a person’s shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics. Programs accused of violating Title VI could lose federal funding.
Anyone can file a complaint with the department’s Office for Civil Rights.
How have students responded to the incidents?
Eyal Yakoby, 21, a senior at Penn, is one of two students suing the university for what they say was a failure to respond to antisemitic incidents on campus, The Washington Post reported.
The suit, filed Tuesday, says Penn has become “an incubation lab for virulent anti-Jewish hatred.” The plaintiffs say Penn has run afoul of the Civil Rights Act.
Yakoby, who is American Israeli and Jewish, said the lawsuit came after months of inaction from administrators, The Post reported. He described a string of antisemitic acts over the past three months: a swastika on campus, then the hosting of what he called antisemitic speakers, then a break-in at Penn Hillel, then the vandalism of Chabad House, then a bomb threat against Hillel.
Penn officials did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
How have elected officials responded to the scrutiny?
Congress and the White House have criticized the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for not being more forceful in their condemnations of antisemitism during this week’s Republican-led House Education and Workforce Committee hearing.
Penn President Liz Magill received backlash from powerful donors, alumni and the state’s governor after she declined to state plainly during the hearing that a call for genocide against Jews would violate the university’s code of conduct, The Post reported.
Magill announced her resignation Saturday.
Magill, who will stay until an interim president is appointed, will remain a tenured faculty member at Penn Carey Law, Scott L. Bok, chairman of the Penn Board of Trustees, said in a note to the university community.
“It has been my privilege to serve as President of this remarkable institution,” Magill said in a statement included at the end of Bok’s note. “It has been an honor to work with our faculty, students, staff, alumni, and community members to advance Penn’s vital missions.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who confronted Magill and others at the hearing, said the resignation was “the very beginning.”
“This forced resignation of the President of @Penn is the bare minimum of what is required,” Stefanik posted on X. She promised a “robust and comprehensive Congressional investigation.”
How have school leaders responded?
Harvard President Claudine Gay told the Republican-led panel that the university is increasing security in student residences and other campus spaces and launching a “robust program” of training for students, faculty members and staffers on antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“We will not cease our work until all members of our community feel safe and respected so they can learn and thrive,” Gay said during Tuesday’s congressional hearing.
An exchange near the end of Gay’s testimony riled Stefanik, who asked whether antisemitic speech would violate Harvard’s code of conduct.
Gay, who depicted her university as one that was tolerant of even offensive speech, said hateful comments can be a violation “depending on the context.” Campus and alumni groups have criticized her comments, with Stefanik and others calling for her resignation.
Gay apologized for her remarks during a Thursday interview with the Harvard Crimson, saying she “failed.”
“There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” Gay told the Crimson. “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”
Meanwhile, the MIT Corp., which is the board of trustees for the institute, expressed its “full and unreserved support” for President Sally Kornbluth.
Nick Anderson, Jack Stripling, Hannah Natanson and Susan Svrluga contributed to this report.