Trump administration warns 60 colleges: Protect your Jewish students — or face consequences

SALT LAKE CITY — The Trump administration is putting scores of American universities on notice with a direct warning: Protect Jewish students on your campuses — or face consequences.

This week, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 colleges and universities — ranging from Ivy League schools and large public universities such as Harvard and Ohio State, to small private liberal arts institutions such as Whitman College and Swarthmore College.

Each letter warned of "potential enforcement actions" if they do not "fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act" to protect Jewish students on campus — including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities, according to an Education Department news release.

No Utah schools received letters from the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.

The letters, the release noted, are addressed to all U.S. universities that are presently under investigation for Title VI violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination.

"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 newly confirmed 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 list of schools receiving letters is broad, and includes several of the country's most storied and powerful higher education institutions — including Johns Hopkins University, Stanford, Brown, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Wisconsin (Madison), and Yale.

The OCR, according to the release, sent the letters to the 60 schools under its authority to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964), "which prohibits any institution that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color, and national origin. National origin includes shared (Jewish) ancestry."

In February, the DOE's Office for Civil Rights said five colleges — Columbia, Northwestern, Portland State, the University of California (Berkeley) and the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) — were under direct investigation following reports of "widespread antisemitic harassment".

And earlier this month, $400 million in federal grants and contracts to New York's Columbia University were canceled "due to the school's continued inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination."

Arrest of Columbia University protestor

News of the DOE's formal warning to the 60 colleges follows last Saturday's arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil by federal immigration officials.

Born and raised in Syria, Khalil was a highly-visible activist in protests last spring at Columbia. He served as a student negotiator and frequently interacted with the press and university officials.

Khalil is married to a U.S. citizen and was granted a "green card" last year, making him a legal permanent resident.

President Donald Trump heralded Khalil's arrest as the first "of many to come," — vowing on social media to deport students he said engage in "pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity", according to the Associated Press.

Khalil hasn't been charged with a crime, but the Department of Homeland Security said he was arrested for leading "activities aligned to Hamas."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the administration moved to deport Khalil under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that gives the secretary of state the power to deport a noncitizen on foreign policy grounds, the AP reported.

Khalil's lawyer has stated his client was "identified, targeted and detained" because of his advocacy for Palestinian rights and his protected speech.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio countered that claim, saying Khalil's case is not about free speech.

"This is about people that don't have a right to be in the United States to begin with. No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card," Rubio said.

Following his arrest, Khalil was taken to an immigration center in Louisiana, where he remained on Thursday.

A New York judge has ordered that Khalil not be deported while the court considers legal challenges brought by his lawyers, who want Khalil returned to New York and released under supervision, the AP reported.

At a hearing Wednesday in lower Manhattan, hundreds of Khalil's supporters demonstrated outside the courthouse — beating drums, waving Palestinian flags and chanting for Khalil's release.

Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered that Khalil's lawyers be allowed to speak with him. The lawyers told the judge that they had yet had an attorney-client-protected call with Khalil, the AP reported.

Upheaval in the Education Department

News of this week's forceful letter from the DOE to dozens of the country's most storied colleges was just one of several recent headlines originating from the embattled agency.

Last week, Secretary McMahon was confirmed and immediately wrote that she was embarking on a "momentous final mission" to eliminate "bureaucratic bloat" and "send education back to the states."

She wasn't bluffing.

On Tuesday, the Education Department announced plans to lay off over 1,300 of its employees.

Almost half of the people who were working at the agency a couple of months ago when Trump took office are now, or soon will be, former DOE employees.

And McMahon herself may soon be out of a job if the president — who has called the DOE "a big con job" — can make good on his intent to shutter the 46-year-old department.

Eliminating the Education Department would require approval from Congress.

Trump hopes to shift education functions to the states, but has not offered details on how the agency's core functions of sending federal money to local districts, schools and students would be handled.

The DOE does not establish classroom curriculum. That's up to local school boards and districts. Instead, the agency's role is primarily financial — including allocating federal Title I funds to public schools in disadvantaged communities.

McMahon has said she would preserve core initiatives including Title I money, Pell Grants for college students and Public Loan Forgiveness.

But she has also questioned whether some DOE programs should be moved to other federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Service and the Justice Department.

Related topics