U.S. Department of Education investigates Penn, Lafayette, over antisemitism and Islamophobia allegations

The U.S. Department of Education will investigate the University of Pennsylvania and Lafayette College, among other institutions, over allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus during the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The federal agency opened a total of seven inquiries into higher education and K-12 institutions this week, after receiving reports in recent weeks of “possible discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics” that would violate the Civil Rights Act.

Five of the department’s inquiries relate to antisemitism, according to the agency. Two complaints involve Islamophobia.

The department’s Office of Civil Rights will oversee the investigations, which mark the first major inquiries into such allegations following the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7. No timeline was offered, but the department will be listing institutions under investigation on its website.

Schools that do not address the office’s findings could risk losing their federal funding, the DOE said in a statement. While Penn receives hundreds of millions from the government for its research programs, the DOE indicated that cutting off dollars was a last resort.

“Hate has no place in our schools, period,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “When students are targeted because they are — or are perceived to be — Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn.”

College campuses have become hotbeds for political debate and demonstrations in recent weeks, as students across the country continue to hold rallies in support of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Hamas militants killed around 1,200 Israelis, many of them civilians, and took more than 200 hostages in its terror attack. In response, Israeli counterattacked in an action that Gaza’s Health Ministry said has killed over 11,000 Palestinians.

The University of Pennsylvania became the center of those tensions this fall, after a group of wealthy alumni announced they would withhold donations in protest of the administration’s response to the conflict and a Palestinian culture and arts festival that was held at the school in September.

After demands that both the university’s president, Liz Magill, and its board chair step down, Penn unveiled a task force in to combat antisemitism earlier this month.

Multiple antisemitic incidents have gone reported on Penn’s campus this fall; among them were verbal threats made at Penn’s Hillel headquarters before the Palestinian literary festival, as well as antisemitic symbols and messages painted on an academic building and the university’s Jewish fraternity in October.

Last week, some Penn staff members received “vile, disturbing” e-mails threatening violence against the Jewish community, which, while the university deemed “not credible,” prompted an investigation by campus police and the FBI. Magill also condemned “vile” antisemitic messages that were light-projected on several Penn buildings, including Penn Commons, Huntsman Hall and Irvine Auditorium.

The Department of Education’s inquiry into Penn comes in direct response to a Title IV complaint filed less than a week ago by the Brandeis Center, a nonprofit aimed at advancing civil and human rights of Jewish people.

Five students were quoted in the complaint, reporting difficulty sleeping and concentrating due to the environment on campus and, for one student, feeling like she could not wear her Star of David necklace on Locust Walk.

“We have received the letter from the Department of Education and look forward to cooperating fully with the Department,” said Steve Silverman, a spokesperson for the University of Pennsylvania.

“The University is taking clear and comprehensive action to prevent, address, and respond to antisemitism, with an action plan anchored in the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. President Magill has made clear antisemitism is vile and pernicious and has no place at Penn; the University will continue to vigilantly combat antisemitism and all forms of hate.”

The Department of Education also is investigating possible discrimination at Lafayette College, a liberal arts college of about 2,500 students located in Easton.

A spokesperson for Lafayette said the school was notified of the Office of Civil Rights’ investigation on Thursday morning.

“We do not know why the OCR decided to include the College in this investigation,” said Scott Morse, the college’s assistant vice president for communications and marketing.

Lafayette’s president, Nicole Hurd, said in a letter to the campus community Friday afternoon that the college was fully cooperating with the investigation.

According to Hurd’s remarks, the Department of Education “alleges that the College discriminated against students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) by failing to respond to incidents of harassment in October 2023.”

Hurd said there was a “problematic poster” at a peaceful walkout protesting violence in Gaza on Oct. 25, which the college addressed.

Students have been vocal about the conflict in recent weeks.

Around three dozen Lafayette students then held a demonstration in support of Palestinians two days later, according to the college’s student newspaper.

The Lafayette wrote that the protest “caused controversy” after students held a sign that read “from the river to the sea,” a phrase that Palestinian activists say represents liberation of an oppressed group, but which many Jewish groups say is a call for the elimination of Israel.

“It’s intimidating,” one Jewish student told The Lafayette.

The demonstration was organized by “Pards for Palestine,” a coalition the news site said students recently formed. The slogan’s presence on campus prompted a separate letter from Hurd, who released a statement several hours after the demonstration calling the sign antisemitic.

Morse said Lafayette students held another rally in early November where students with “differing views shared a peaceful gathering on campus to honor all those who have died in the recent violence in the Middle East.”

“This event was typical of how our campus community has acted with care and kindness during this time,” Morse said. “The College maintains a firm stance against antisemitism, Islamophobia, and hate speech of any kind. The College is cooperating and will continue to cooperate fully with the DOE in their investigation.”

The department’s Office of Civil Rights said it will also inquire into allegations at Cornell and Columbia Universities in New York, Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, as well as a K-12 school district in Kansas.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says universities and K-12 schools must provide all students with an environment free from discrimination. The Department of Education issued a reminder to schools and colleges of this responsibility. As it received more reports in recent weeks, the department said it was requesting federal funding to expedite its investigation of both antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses.

Penn receives around $800 million from the federal government, according to a report from the Daily Pennsylvanian, including from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense.

Cardona, the education secretary, told CNN this month that withholding federal funding following the inquiries would not be the department’s first action.

However, Cardona said that, “Ultimately, if we have to withhold dollars from a campus refusing to comply, we would.”