Biden’s federal Department of Education broadens list of universities to be investigated for campus ethnic discrimination

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The U.S. Department of Education expanded the list of colleges and universities that are targets of its investigation into rising claims of Islamophobia and antisemitism on campus. The Biden administration initially announced its investigation in November. 

Key Player

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) oversees federal education programs and policies. It regularly investigates school compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects students from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. 

Further Details

On Nov. 15, 2023, the DOE launched an investigation into several colleges and universities for alleged instances of antisemitism and Islamophobia after the attacks of Oct. 7, when Hamas, a militant Palestinian group designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, engaged in an armed assault through  ut southern Israel.

Schools such as the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts; Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; and Columbia University in New York City were included in the initial investigation. 

The investigation related to alleged discrimination against perceived members of Jewish and Muslim religious and ethnic groups. At its conclusion, it is expected to offer recommendations for combating such discrimination. The DOE affirmed that the investigation is part of a continued effort “to take aggressive action to address the alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and other forms of discrimination and harassment on college campuses.”

“These investigations underscore how seriously the Biden-Harris Administration, including the U.S. Department of Education, takes our responsibility to protect students from hatred and discrimination,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a Nov. 16 press release.

Colleges and universities that are found to be discriminatory will be denied a continuation of federal funding. “If an institution refuses to follow the law to protect students, we would withhold dollars,” Cardona said.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the DOE’s list does not specify which allegations its civil rights office was investigating. However, many of the listed colleges have been publicly accused of ignoring hate speech and other actions targeting Jewish and Muslim students. 

At Cornell, a student was arrested after sharing several posts threatening to harm Jewish students. 

On Dec. 11, Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, temporarily suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine because of “multiple cases of disrupting classes, a program, meals, and students studying” in protest of Israel. 

Lafayette College, in Easton, Pennsylvania, which recently denied recognition to Students for Justice in Palestine over speech concerns, was also under investigation. Although it was unclear what the issues are, a recent email from President Nicole Hurd referenced a pro-Palestinian protest during which a student held a poster reading, “From the river to the sea,” a controversial phrase that Palestinian activists maintain is a call for peace and equality. However, many Jewish activists and others assert the phrase is a call for Israel’s destruction, The Associated Press reported. 

A representative of Lafayette announced it would cooperate with the inquiry, but stated he was unsure why the university was included, as “students of differing views” had peacefully gathered on campus at an event to honor casualties of the war. 

Outcome

More schools added to DOE list

By Dec. 13, the DOE had added Rutgers University; the University of California, San Diego; the University of Washington in Seattle; Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington; Stanford University in Palo Alto, California; and the University of California, Los Angeles, to its list. 

On Dec. 18, the DOE added Drexel University in Philadelphia and the University of Illinois, Chicago to its investigation. It has not publicly stated what forms of discrimination are being reviewed. These additions brought the total number of universities and colleges under investigation to 21. 

Worries over investigations

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University recently questioned the DOE’s investigation, sending a letter to the U.S. attorney general and the secretary of homeland security, warning that “surveillance and investigative authorities have so often been abused to target racial, religious, and political minorities in the past,” and urging “clear limits and strong oversight.” 

The letter expressed fear that while it was “entirely appropriate” to investigate discrimination on college campuses, this initiative could lead to “the same kinds of surveillance abuses that occurred in the years after 9/11,” in the absence of appropriate oversight.

The letter posed several questions to elicit a definition of the scope of the Biden administration’s investigation.

The other universities under investigation are San Diego State University; University of Virginia – Charlottesville; George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Montana State University in Bozeman; Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana; Union College in Schenectady, New York; University of Cincinnati; and Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California.