Many colleges settling antisemitism cases. Republicans blast ‘toothless’ agreements
WASHINGTON — Many colleges accused of tolerating anti-Semitism on their campuses settled with federal civil rights investigators in the weeks before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, who urged a tougher response to protests on campus against the war in Gaza.
By settling with the Department of Education, the schools close the cases against them as long as they comply with the terms of the agreements, which typically required training, policy updates and reviews of past complaints.
But many colleges at the center of the high-profile cases — including Columbia and Cornell — face investigations that remain unresolved and could be at risk of harsher penalties after Trump takes office. Trump has not said what he would like to see come of the investigations, but he has threatened to do so withdraw federal money for schools that do not meet his requirements.
“Colleges will and must put an end to anti-Semitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support,” Trump said in a virtual address to Jewish donors in September. “If they don’t, no money will go to them.”
Settlements with the Department of Education’s civil rights division have piled up in recent weeks with the University of Washington, the University of CaliforniaJohns Hopkins, Rutgers and the University of Cincinnati. They follow other voluntary agreements signed by Brown and Temple universities, along with the University of Michigan.
The wave of recent deals has sparked outrage among Republicans in Congress, who say the Biden administration is leaving colleges open.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the settlements are “toothless” and fail to hold colleges accountable for allowing anti-Semitism. In a statement, he said the Trump administration “must investigate these agreements and explore opportunities to impose real consequences on schools.”
One of the commission’s priorities will be “calling out woke institutions of higher education — especially those that allow anti-Semitism to run rampant,” Walberg said at a meeting Wednesday.
More than 100 U.S. colleges and school districts remain under investigation for alleged anti-Semitism or Islamophobia following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. That includes Columbia, Cornell, Yale, Princeton and other prestigious schools targeted by a Republican campaign against anti-Semitism.
The Department of Education investigation stems from complaints that schools have violated Title VI, which prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color and national origin at colleges and universities that receive federal funding.
Several colleges facing investigations declined to comment on their status.
Presidents of several universities were summoned before Congress last year over their handling of pro-Palestinian protests, which contributed to the resignation of Claudine Gay at Harvard, Liz Magill at Penn and Minouche Shafik at Columbia.
The vast majority of Department of Education civil rights investigations end with voluntary agreements entered into with schools. If they fail to reach a settlement, the agency could refer the case to the Justice Department or take steps to cut off the school’s federal funding — an extreme sanction that has almost never been used.
Whether Trump will push the Department of Education to use the so-called “nuclear option” remains to be seen. But if there is no deal before January 20, colleges risk becoming test cases for Trump, who is openly hostile to universities he sees as hotbeds of liberalism.
Losing access to federal money is typically seen as a death sentence for colleges, but if there is an exception, it would be Harvard, with its $53 billion endowment, the richest university in the world. A total shutdown would also mean students would not be able to take advantage of federal financial aid at college.
However, it could not happen immediately. The Department of Education can terminate the federal money only if it fails to obtain voluntary compliance from the school and only if it is approved by an administrative law judge. There would have to be a hearing and there would be opportunities for the school to appeal the decision.
With Republicans taking control of both chambers of Congress, there is also a renewed push for legislation on the subject. A December report coordinated by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., found that U.S. colleges failed to stem anti-Semitism during last year’s demonstrations, with cases at Harvard, Columbia and UCLA were highlighted.
The report called for new legislation “to support students and ensure accountability,” and it approved legislation to cut off federal money from schools that support divestment from Israel. It called on the executive branch to “aggressively enforce” civil rights laws and said universities that fail to curb anti-Semitism “are unfit stewards of taxpayer dollars and should be treated accordingly.”
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