Northwestern University was one of 60 schools that received letters Monday warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations to protect Jewish students on campus.
The letters are the latest in a long line of actions taken by President Donald Trump to crack down on antisemitism. In a press release Monday, the department warned that federal funding or “public investment funded by U.S. taxpayers” to those who “do not fulfill their obligations” could be withdrawn.
“That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws,” newly instated Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the press release.
Over the weekend, Northwestern was one of 10 universities placed on a list of schools by the U.S. Department of Justice alleged to be leaving Jewish students and faculty unprotected, the New York Times reported. Reports of the letter followed the Trump administration’s announcement that it was pulling $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University because of what it described as antisemitism on campus.
In early February, Northwestern was put under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education through a newly created multiagency task force for what the federal agency called “widespread antisemitic harassment.”
Monday’s letters went to “all U.S. universities that are presently under investigation for Title VI violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination,” the Education Department said in the press release. Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities — like universities — that receive federal financial assistance.
Imagine that.
