By Alex Ortiz

The Brief

• The U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation into alleged antisemitism at Northwestern University, and other colleges.

  1. The federal agency claimed there has been "widespread antisemitic harassment" since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

  2. Northwestern said it would comply with the probe and said it was confident in its own actions to address antisemitism.

EVANSTON, Ill. - The U.S. Department of Education announced it is opening investigations into alleged incidents of antisemitism at five colleges across the country, including at Northwestern University in Evanston.

The department said the investigations came about after President Donald Trump’s executive order last month to combat antisemitism.

Federal probe

What we know:

The agency claimed there’s been "widespread antisemitic harassment" reported at the institutions, especially after the deadly attack by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Besides Northwestern, the Department of Education is opening probes into Columbia University, Portland State University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

"Too many universities have tolerated widespread antisemitic harassment and the illegal encampments that paralyzed campus life last year, driving Jewish life and religious expression underground. The Biden Administration’s toothless resolution agreements did shamefully little to hold those institutions accountable," said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in a statement. "Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses, nor will it stand by idly if universities fail to combat Jew hatred and the unlawful harassment and violence it animates."

In response to the announcement, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab released the following statement:

"This is a politicized action by the administration that has little to do with actual antisemitism, whose definition is being expanded from bigotry against Jews to include legitimate criticism of Israel and its documented crimes against humanity. This is both dangerous to combating actual antisemitism and to American freedoms and an affront to common sense. The interests of a far-right rogue foreign government are placed above all else, which is stunning."

The other side:

In a statement responding to the investigation, Northwestern said it intends to fully comply with the probe.

"There is no place for antisemitism or any form of identity-based discrimination or hate at Northwestern University. Free expression and academic freedom are among our core values, but we have made clear that these values provide no excuse for behavior that threatens the well-being of others," the university said.

Northwestern said it was confident in the actions it's taken to address antisemitism, including updating its student code of conduct and disciplinary procedures, and making investments in public safety.

Questions from Congress

The backstory:

The department also cited investigations by the Republican-controlled House Committee on Education and Workforce which said it found that university leaders "overwhelmingly failed" to protect Jewish students on their campuses.

In a summary of their findings released last October, the committee said that university administrators made "astounding concessions" to protesters on campus who were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the U.S. supply of military weapons to Israel.

Like at many other schools around the country, several students and other protesters erected encampments last year on Northwestern's campus. University administrators negotiated an end to the encampments with the protesters.

Still, the resolution elicited backlash.

The House committee specifically cited a case in which Northwestern administrators "entertained demands to hire an ‘anti-Zionist’ rabbi and divest from and remove Sabra Hummus from campus cafeterias."

Northwestern University President Michael Schill testified last year about the school’s response to war protests and reports of antisemitism in front of the Congressional committee.

The school has opened its own investigation into incidents of antisemitism on campus. Students filed their own lawsuits against the school claiming it failed to uphold its own rules last school year.

The Source

• The information in this story was provided by the U.S. Department of Education and the House Committee on Education and Workforce.