— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

The federal Department of Education has sent letters about investigations of antisemitism to 60 U.S. universities and colleges, warning of “potential enforcement actions if they do not fullfill their obligations” to protect Jewish students on campus.

Lafayette College, Lehigh University and Muhlenberg College are among the 60.

At least some of the letter appears to be old news related to complaints made that were related to pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the violence in Gaza in the Middle East. Such complaints were addressed earlier.

I don’t know what went on at the local campuses, but last year several Lehigh University students and others engaged in a pointless orgy of self-righteousness at Bethlehem City Council meetings, prolonging and disrupting the actual business of the council.

Asking, or as one student put it, “demanding” that Bethlehem City Council call for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was nonsense. Perhaps they could have spent their time picking up litter, registering voters or doing something, anything, that was actually useful and not designed to draw attention to themselves.

Bethlehem City Council couldn’t declare a ceasefire between Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township, let alone in a Palestinian enclave that is 5,736 miles away.

As for the letter, the current U.S. administration has made it clear that it is not friendly toward higher education.

Columbia University in New York City has lost $400 million in federal contracts and grants, according to the Department of Education.

“The letters are addressed to all U.S. universities that are presently under investigation for Title VI violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination,” according to a statement from the Department of Education.

Title VI bars excluding a person based on race, color or national original from activities that are supported by federal money.

Lafayette, Lehigh and Muhenberg are in good company on the list, academically. Ivy League schools are included, along with Temple University, the University of Michigan, Rutgers University and other big schools.

Here is a link to the press release, and below, a cut-and-paste version:

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U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Sends Letters to 60 Universities Under Investigation for Antisemitic Discrimination and Harassment

Letters warn of potential enforcement actions if institutions do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus.

March 10, 2025

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education warning them 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. The letters 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 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 schools that received letters from the Office for Civil Rights include:  

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 

Background: 

The Department’s OCR sent these letters 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. 

Pursuant to Title VI and in furtherance of President Trump’s Executive Order “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism,” the Department launched directed investigations into five universities where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported. The 55 additional universities are under investigation or monitoring in response to complaints filed with OCR. Last week, the Department, alongside fellow members of the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. General Services Administration, announced the immediate cancelation of $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to the school’s continued inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination. Last Friday, OCR directed its enforcement staff to make resolving the backlog of complaints alleging antisemitic violence and harassment, many which were allowed to languish unresolved under the previous administration, an immediate priority.