- Stephanie Wang | Staff
- Feb 5, 2025 (DailyCal.org)
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 inquiry 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, 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.
While no specific details were provided regarding how the five universities were designated, the press release identified them as “institutions of higher education where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported.”
A summary published by the Committee on Education and the Workforce following last year’s inquiry — which the Department of Education’s investigation will “build upon” —labelled what they regarded as “almost no discipline for antisemitic conduct violations” taken by UC Berkeley as a “pathetic record.”The report specifically characterized disciplinary responses to the Free Palestine Encampment, the Feb. 26 cancellation of former Israeli soldier Ran Bar-Yoshafat’s lecture at Zellerbach Playhouse and the May 15 takeover of Anna Head Alumnae Hall as “inadequate.”
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’s executive order, “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” signed Jan. 29.
In addition to directing federal departments and agencies to identify actions that could be used to “curb or combat anti-Semitism,” the order called for an “inventory” and an “analysis” of administrative complaints and court cases “alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism.”
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 “Task Force’s first priority will be to root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.”
In response to the investigation, campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof said in an email that although campus had not yet received any “information or directives beyond what is publicly available” the administration “will readily comply and cooperate with any requests for documents or information that may arise from the investigation that has been announced.”
Mogulof pointed to the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Jewish Student Life and Campus Life, established in 2015, as providing “valuable input, guidance, and constructive criticism to the Chancellor.” He added that the UC Berkeley Antisemitism Education Initiative, launched in 2019, serves as a campus resource.
“UC 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,” Mogulof said in the email. “So, 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.”
