UC Berkeley hands Trump admin data on 160 students, staff in antisemitism probe

Disclosure comes as US government pressures universities with threats of funding cuts, visa restrictions over handling of campus antisemitism

The University of California, Berkeley said on Friday it has provided information on 160 faculty members and students to US President Donald Trump’s administration as part of a federal investigation into “alleged incidents of antisemitism,” amid a broader government crackdown against educational institutions charged with failing to safeguard Jewish students.

The office of the president of the University of California said the institution is subject to oversight by federal and state agencies and that its campuses, like UC Berkeley, “routinely receive document requests in connection with government audits, compliance reviews, or investigations.”

The administration has threatened multiple universities with loss of federal funding as well as the right to enroll international students, focusing on elite institutions, which it has accused of serving as centers of political indoctrination and antisemitism.

Many top US colleges and universities have been accused of tolerating antisemitism and mishandling protests after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel — in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages — started the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The anti-Israel demonstrations frequently included open endorsements of violence and support for terror groups. They also sparked waves of arrests as well as some suspensions and expulsions, which many pro-Palestinian groups have condemned as an attack on free speech.

Pro-Palestinian protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza and control of areas the Palestinians seek for a future state with antisemitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.

Anti-Israel demonstrators set up a tent encampment in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on April 22, 2024, in Berkeley, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP)

Experts have raised free speech, due process and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president’s threats. Trump has also attempted to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student protesters but has faced legal hurdles.

“UC is committed to protecting the privacy of our students, faculty, and staff to the greatest extent possible, while fulfilling its legal obligations,” a spokesperson of the office of the UC president added.

UC Berkeley said the names of the 160 students, faculty and staff were sent to the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and affected members of the campus were notified by the institution last week.

It added the Education Department launched an investigation several months ago into its handling of complaints related to “alleged incidents of antisemitism” and demanded documentation.

“Numerous documents were provided over recent months to OCR, including the names of individuals in those reports,” it added.

The government had no immediate comment.

Government has settled some probes

The government opened investigations into allegations of antisemitism at UC Berkeley and four other universities in February.

The university is currently also the subject of a lawsuit by Jewish groups who accuse it of tolerating an “unrelenting” stream of antisemitic harassment toward Jewish students and faculty.

Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrators break through the doors of a building hosting a Jewish event featuring a speaker from Israel, at the UC Berkeley campus in Berkeley, California, February 26, 2024. (Screenshots from X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law).

In April, US District Judge James Donato said two Jewish groups may pursue equal protection, free exercise of religion, and civil rights claims against school officials, including University of California President Michael Drake and former UC Berkeley chancellor Carol Christ.

The US government in July settled its investigations with Columbia University, which agreed to pay more than $220 million, and Brown University, which said it will pay $50 million. Both accepted certain government demands. Settlement talks with Harvard University are ongoing.

The Trump administration has also faced some judicial roadblocks in its drive to freeze federal funding.

The government had proposed to settle its probe into the University of California, Los Angeles — another UC campus — through a $1 billion payment from the university. California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed that offer, calling it an extortion attempt.