Trump administration threatens to slash federal funding to 60 universities

The U.S. Department of Education issued warning letters to 60 universities on Monday, stating that they would face "potential enforcement measures" if they failed to "protect" Jewish students on campus. This move aims to ensure that universities fulfill their responsibility to maintain order and student safety on campus.

These letters were issued by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), citing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. This provision stipulates that institutions have an obligation to protect Jewish students on campus, including "unimpeded access to campus facilities and educational opportunities." Previously, the Trump administration announced last Friday that Columbia University would lose $400 million in federal grants and contracts for failing to adequately combat anti-Semitism.

The letters clearly state that these 60 universities are all under investigation for allegedly violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, involving anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination. A press release from the Department of Education quoted Secretary of Education Linda McMahon as saying, "America’s colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by American taxpayers. That support is a privilege, which depends on rigorous compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws."

The OCR stated that it has the authority to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits any institution that discriminates based on race, color, or national origin from receiving federal funding. "National origin includes shared (Jewish) ancestry," the press release said. Last year, the war between Israel and Gaza sparked a series of protests and encampments, after which universities were accused of allowing anti-Semitism to fester on campus.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have attempted to characterize anti-Israel and anti-Zionist protests as "anti-Semitism," which has led to congressional hearings where members of Congress questioned university administrators, and law enforcement forcibly shut down protests on campus. The OCR initially investigated five universities that had "reported widespread anti-Semitic harassment," including Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

The remaining 55 universities that received letters on Monday are being "investigated or monitored" in response to complaints filed with the OCR. The list includes six prominent Ivy League schools (Columbia University, Brown University, Yale University, Princeton University, Cornell University, and Harvard University). There are a total of eight Ivy League universities. The expansion of the list of universities being monitored or investigated is due to the OCR's instruction last week to address a "backlog of complaints" alleging anti-Semitism at dozens of universities, making it a "top priority."

On Monday, a federal task force notified Columbia University that its federal contracts and grants would be subject to a "comprehensive review" under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, as part of an ongoing investigation that has so far canceled $400 million in federal funding. Four government agencies, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the U.S. General Services Administration, make up the "Federal Interagency Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism."

The task force was established in February, following Trump's signing of an executive order "on combating additional measures of anti-Semitism," which was signed at the end of January. The task force announced last week that it would visit ten university campuses where anti-Semitic incidents have occurred since the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

The agencies said in a joint press statement last Friday that the funding cuts to Columbia University were due to "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students." Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the press release, "Since October 7 [2023], Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses—and been ignored by those charged with protecting them."

The statement warned that the cancellation represented the first round of actions, with more expected to follow. Columbia University currently holds more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments. The amount announced is more than eight times the amount that the federal task force announced on Monday it was considering halting. In the wake of political backlash, universities such as New York University and Harvard University have adopted the controversial IHRA definition of anti-Semitism as they come under federal scrutiny.

Since taking office, Trump ordered the suspension of federal grants and loans, but was later blocked by a judge. The Associated Press reported in February that Trump's directive left universities across the country "scrambling to determine how the funding freeze would affect their research projects, students, and faculty."