{"id":39334,"date":"2025-02-07T13:48:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T21:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=39334"},"modified":"2025-02-07T13:48:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T21:48:06","slug":"department-of-education-announces-antisemitism-inquiries-into-uc-berkeley-and-4-other-universities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/07\/department-of-education-announces-antisemitism-inquiries-into-uc-berkeley-and-4-other-universities\/","title":{"rendered":"Department of Education announces antisemitism inquiries into UC Berkeley and 4 other universities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/users\/profile\/Stephanie%20Wang\">Stephanie Wang | Staff<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Feb 5, 2025 (DailyCal.org)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/dailycal.org\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/d\/fd\/dfda874a-e385-11ef-a5e2-9fa880146210\/67a2fd6fb9466.image.jpg?resize=400%2C258\" alt=\"antisemitism_Alessandra Aprile Boriello_staff.jpg\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A summary published by the Committee on Education and the Workforce labelled UC Berkeley as a campus with \u201calmost no discipline for antisemitic conduct violations,\u201d citing the Free Palestine Encampment, the Feb. 26 cancellation of former Israeli soldier Ran Bar-Yoshafat\u2019s lecture at Zellerbach Playhouse and the May 15 takeover of Anna Head Alumnae Hall.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/users\/profile\/Alessandra%20Aprile%20Borriello\">Alessandra Aprile Borriello | Staff<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday it would open investigations into UC Berkeley and four other universities regarding allegations of antisemitism in an extension of an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/news\/campus\/administration\/insufficient-and-unacceptable-us-house-mounts-pressure-on-uc-berkeley-in-antisemitism-inquiry\/article_4f5a10dc-0136-11ef-8a23-9b739e63a61c.html\">inquiry<\/a>&nbsp;from the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce that concluded last October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A press release from the Department of Education stated that, besides UC Berkeley, Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University and the University of Minnesota Twin Cities would also be subject to investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While no specific details were provided regarding how the five universities were designated, the press release identified them as \u201cinstitutions of higher education where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A summary published by the Committee on Education and the Workforce following last year\u2019s inquiry \u2014 which the Department of Education\u2019s investigation will \u201cbuild upon\u201d \u2014labelled what they regarded as \u201calmost no discipline for antisemitic conduct violations\u201d taken by UC Berkeley as a \u201cpathetic record.\u201dThe report specifically characterized disciplinary responses to the Free Palestine&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/news\/campus\/uc-berkeley-students-establish-free-palestine-encampment-outside-sproul-hall\/article_d3868ea8-00f5-11ef-82c7-0f1ae80fd478.html\">Encampment<\/a>, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/news\/campus\/student-life\/protests-shut-down-event-with-israeli-attorney-ran-bar-yoshafat\/article_3107e976-d52e-11ee-bec1-1f866f1b32b7.html\">Feb. 26<\/a>&nbsp;cancellation of former Israeli soldier Ran Bar-Yoshafat\u2019s lecture at Zellerbach Playhouse and the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailycal.org\/news\/campus\/group-of-pro-palestine-protesters-break-in-take-over-anna-head-hall\/article_6206c50e-130b-11ef-a209-2b1216039f67.html\">May 15<\/a>&nbsp;takeover of Anna Head Alumnae Hall as \u201cinadequate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new investigation joins a series of measures pursued by the Trump administration to take stronger action regarding allegations of antisemitism on university campuses in accordance with President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order, \u201cAdditional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,\u201d signed Jan. 29.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to directing federal departments and agencies to identify actions that could be used to \u201ccurb or combat anti-Semitism,\u201d the order called for an \u201cinventory\u201d and an \u201canalysis\u201d of administrative complaints and court cases \u201calleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the Department of Education will work with the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services as part of the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, according to an announcement Monday.A press release published by the Department of Justice indicated that the \u201cTask Force\u2019s first priority will be to root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the investigation, campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof said in an email that although campus had not yet received any \u201cinformation or directives beyond what is publicly available\u201d the administration \u201cwill readily comply and cooperate with any requests for documents or information that may arise from the investigation that has been announced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mogulof pointed to the Chancellor\u2019s Advisory Committee on Jewish Student Life and Campus Life, established in 2015, as providing \u201cvaluable input, guidance, and constructive criticism to the Chancellor.\u201d&nbsp; He added that the UC Berkeley Antisemitism Education Initiative, launched in 2019, serves as a campus resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUC Berkeley has an unwavering commitment to confronting antisemitism as part of our support for a campus community where all can feel safe, respected, and welcome regardless of their origins, identities, beliefs, or perspectives,\u201d Mogulof said in the email. \u201cSo, too, is the university committed to compliance with, and enforcement of the rules, laws, and policies that prohibit identity-based harassment and discrimination on the campus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday it would open investigations into UC Berkeley and four other universities regarding allegations of antisemitism in an extension of an&nbsp;inquiry&nbsp;from the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce that concluded last October. A press release from the Department of Education stated that,&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/07\/department-of-education-announces-antisemitism-inquiries-into-uc-berkeley-and-4-other-universities\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39334"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39334"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39335,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39334\/revisions\/39335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}