“They don’t want their cases to still be pending on the docket when the new administration takes office. They understand that the price of settlement is about to increase.”
Many US colleges that allowed rampant antisemitism on their campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks have been quietly settling cases with federal civil rights investigators in advance of President-elect Donald Trump's second term, who has threatened to revoke federal money for schools that allow hate and campus protests supporting Hamas.
The schools can have the cases closed by settling with Biden’s Department of Education Department as long as they meet menial terms such as training, policy updates, and reviews of past complaints. Trump said in September, “Colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support. No money will go to them if they don’t.”
According to the Associated Press, settlements with the Office for Civil Rights have been reached with the University of California, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers, and the University of Cincinnati. Voluntary agreements were signed by Brown, Temple, and the University of Michigan. Over 100 US colleges and school districts remain under investigation over alleged antisemitism including Columbia, Cornell, Yale, and Princeton.
Kenneth Marcus, who led the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights during Trump’s first term told the outlet that university presidents are “desperate” to enter agreements “because Donald Trump is coming and there’ll be hell to pay if they don’t,” adding, “They don’t want their cases to still be pending on the docket when the new administration takes office. They understand that the price of settlement is about to increase.”
One school that settled is the University of Washington in Seattle which was recently ranked among the top-five most antisemitic colleges in the US.
The school was able to settle despite admitting that the campus saw “approximately 140 reports alleging shared ancestry harassment or discrimination against students that were submitted to the University from August 2022 through December 2023, and for the months of March, April, May and September in 2024.”
The US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights agreed to let the university, which allowed a violent Gaza camp to take over the Quad as well as Jewish students and faculty to be blocked from parts of campus, off the hook if administrators merely reviewed and updated policies and procedures, had regular training for employees responsible for the review and/or investigation of discrimination reports, hosted regular anti-discrimination training for students and employees, performed a so-called climate assessment, and compiled for review previous bias reports.
Despite allowing rampant antisemitism on campus including assaults, UW President Ana Mari Cauce said, “We take seriously the concerns that were raised, and we appreciate the opportunity to reach a resolution in this matter, including taking actions that will continue and strengthen our efforts to support a welcoming and safe environment for every member of the UW community.”
The university said in a statement that the resolution agreement “does not constitute an admission of liability, non-compliance or wrongdoing by the University.”
Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) called the settlements “toothless” and failed to hold colleges accountable for permitting antisemitism. He told the AP in a statement that the incoming Trump administration should “examine these agreements and explore options to impose real consequences on schools.”
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