US federal task force to visit 10 campuses to tackle antisemitism

The US Department of Justice says an antisemitism task force will visit 10 university campuses that saw antisemitic incidents since October 2023.

The visits stem from US President Donald Trump’s executive order to combat antisemitism that was issued last month, part of a wider effort by the new administration to pressure universities to crack down on anti-Jewish discrimination.

The task force tells the 10 universities it is aware of “allegations that the schools may have failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination,” the Department of Justice says.

The head of the task force, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Leo Terrell, says the group will meet with university leaders, students, staff and law enforcement.

“The task force’s mandate is to bring the full force of the federal government to bear in our effort to eradicate antisemitism, particularly in schools,” Terrell says in a statement.

The universities that will be visited are:
Columbia University
George Washington University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
New York University
Northwestern University
The University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Berkeley
The University of Minnesota
The University of Southern California

The visits are announced after anti-Israel protesters at Barnard College, an affiliate of New York’s Columbia University, invaded a campus building on Wednesday, injuring a university employee. The protest was widely condemned by state and national lawmakers.