President Trump Lays Down the Law on Antisemitism in Universities

By: Hugh Fitzgerald, December 3, 2024;

In Trump’s first term, Jews were declared to be a minority group protected by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. And now, just weeks away from beginning his second term, Trump has laid down the law, in a speech he just gave at a rally against antisemitism in Washington. American universities that fail to combat antisemitism on their campuses should expect severe repercussions, including the loss of accreditation and of federal research contracts. More on Trump’s determination to stamp out campus antisemitism can be found here: “Trump to universities: Stamp out antisemitism or lose accreditation,” by Mathilda Heller, Jerusalem Post, November 14, 2024:

All American universities must end campus antisemitism or they will lose accreditation, President-elect Donald Trump promised during a rally against antisemitism in Washington.

To “defeat antisemitism and defend Jewish citizens in America,” Trump said he would inform every college president that if they do not “end antisemitic propaganda,” they would lose accreditation and federal support.

He did not say they “may lose” accreditation. Trump said they will lose accreditation, and their share of the billions of dollars in federal support that universities receive. A double blow to their finances and reputation.

“We will not subsidize the creation of terrorist sympathizers, and we’re not going to do it – certainly [not] on American soil,” he said.

Trump added that once in the Oval Office, he would inform all educational institutions that if they permit violence or harassment against Jewish students, they will be “held accountable for violations of the civil rights law.”

“It’s very important – Jewish Americans must have equal protection under the law, and they’re going to get it,” he said. “At the same time, my administration will move swiftly to restore safety for Jewish students [on campuses] and Jewish people on American streets.”…

Those wet-behind-the-ears stormtroopers will no longer be allowed to harass and attack Jewish students. They won’t be able to march around the campus, entering lecture halls to disrupt classes taught by Jews and Israelis, or entering campus buildings in order to vandalize them, as they did on April 28 to Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, in an attempt to pressure the administration to divest from Israeli companies, and to cut institutional ties to Israeli academic institutions. If universities do not take forceful action against those who are fomenting a climate of antisemitism — something that very few of them did this past year — then they stand to lose their accreditation, which means their students would no longer have access to federal financial aid. In addition, earning a degree earned from an unaccredited school can also hold little value to employers and disqualify someone from attending graduate school. In addition, the federal government funds billions of dollars in research projects conducted at universities; that money could dry up if not enough is done to fight antisemitic acts on campus.

Many universities have shown themselves incapable of dealing with the surge in antisemitism on their campuses since October 7, 2023. Deploring antisemitic acts, declaring sympathy with Jewish students, promising solemnly to do better, is not enough. Nor are those slap-on-the-wrist punishments, where a handful of the worst offenders are suspended from campus for a term, and then that suspension is immediately lifted. Columbia University administrators considered caving to the demands of anti-Israel students, including agreeing to financial divestment from Israel-linked companies, as the just-released report from the House Committee on Education and the Workforce makes clear. And at Columbia, after dozens of marches by those screaming about “genocide in Gaza,” the harassing of Jewish students, the seizure of campus buildings, the setting up of tent encampments, a grand total of four students received temporary suspensions. “Harvard cut language condemning Oct. 7 attack as ‘violence,’ reference to hostages from statement on massacre, House GOP report shows,” by Josh Christenson, New York Post, October 31, 2024:

Harvard University President Claudine Gay and other administrators intentionally cut language condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 massacre of more than 1,200 civilians as “violence” and references to their Israeli hostages from an official statement after the brutal attack, a stunning House committee report revealed Thursday.

The GOP-led House Education and Workforce Committee in a 122-page report found that the Ivy League university leaders made “an intentional decision” to water down their Oct. 9 statement that still failed to condemn Hamas’ attack, according to documents, some of which were obtained via subpoena.

“We denounce this act of terror,” reads an earlier draft of the statement that was jettisoned.

Then-Harvard Law School Dean John Manning, who has since become the school’s provost, successfully lobbied against adding more language that referenced the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas.

“The violence hits all too close to home for many at Harvard,” states the earlier draft. “Some members of our community have lost family members and friends; some have been unable to reach loved ones, and others fear that their loved ones may have been taken hostage.”

The administrators also opted against denouncing a joint statement from 31 Harvard student groups holding Israel “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ atrocities.

On many campuses, including Harvard, Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Michigan, Jewish students have reported a climate of widespread antisemitism that has been tolerated by administrators. Lawsuits accusing Harvard University of tolerating antisemitism and making it unbearable for Jewish students to study there are ongoing.

Now Trump has set down the law, threatening to take away both accreditation, which would means no student access to federal financial aid, and research funds, from colleges and universities that fail to deal adequately with antisemitism. A new sheriff is in town.

Gaudeamus igitur.

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