White House announces steps to combat ‘alarming’ rise in campus antisemitism

The White House announces a series of actions it is taking to combat the “alarming” rise in reported antisemitic incidents on American college campuses since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who has been one of the main faces of the administration’s fight against antisemitism, will discuss the matter at a meeting with executives of major American Jewish community organizations later today at the Education Department.

Later this week, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and White House domestic policy czar Neera Tanden will visit a university campus and hold a roundtable with Jewish students.

The Education Department, which has already conducted site visits in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Maine to address and learn about antisemitism on college campuses, will make visits to schools in New York City and Baltimore later this week, the White House says.

As part of their engagements with local law enforcement regarding antisemitism, the Justice and Homeland Security departments have begun including campus police in those meetings, the White House says.

The Justice Department’s Community Relations Service will continue to provide support on college campuses and remains in dialogue with Jewish, Muslim, Arab, and other impacted communities on college campuses nationwide, according to the White House. The Homeland Security Department has tasked its cybersecurity experts to engage with colleges across the countries regarding campus antisemitism.

The Biden administration has also expedited an initiative launched just over a week before the war instructing federal officials to include antisemitism and other forms of religious bigotry as prohibited under civil rights law, meaning Jewish groups cannot be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

That initiative was part of a broader, first-of-its-kind presidential strategy to combat antisemitism launched last May. The administration says it has speeded up the process to file complaints and will also offer technical assistance to people on campuses who want to file complaints.

JTA contributed to this report.