Fighting Israel’s Media War
Help JNS get the facts out
news
Federal task force to investigate Jew-hatred at 10 universities
“There’s nothing that gets a university president’s attention like a call from the Justice Department,” Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center, told JNS.
Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, shakes U.S. President Donald Trump’s hand at a reception honoring Black History Month in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 20, 2025. Credit: Molly Riley/White House.
(Feb. 28, 2025 / JNS)
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday that its federal task force to combat Jew-hatred will visit 10 university campuses that have experienced antisemitic incidents since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“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,” stated Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights and a member of the task force. “These visits are just one of many steps this Administration is taking to deliver on that commitment.”
The federal task force plans to meet with leaders of and impacted students at Columbia University, George Washington University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, Northwestern University, University of Minnesota, University of Southern California and the University of California’s campuses in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Berkeley.
Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate and never miss our top stories and analyses
By signing up, you agree to receive emails from JNS.
Kenneth L. Marcus, chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and a former U.S. assistant secretary of education, told JNS that the visits are likely to have quick impacts.
“The Justice Department has the power to bring original actions against colleges or universities as well as to intervene in pending matters, but they haven’t done much of this in recent years,” he said. “They’ve been particularly quiet about campus antisemitism throughout the Biden administration, which led to criticism of Merrick Garland’s Justice Department.”
Related Articles
US authorizes $2 billion sale of 2,000-pound bombs to IsraelFeb. 28, 2025
Hamas refuses to extend Phase 1 of truce, demands end to warMarch 1, 2025
Don’t mourn the demise of corporate media gatekeepersFeb. 28, 2025
“It’s astonishing that the Justice Department was silent for so long, and this is a welcome change,” he told JNS. “Unlike the Office of Civil Rights, the Justice Department rarely gets involved in campus antisemitism matters outside of desegregation, but when they do, it has a disproportionately large impact.”
“There’s nothing that gets a university president’s attention like a call from the Justice Department,” he added. “It has an immediate impact.”
The prospect of a Justice Department task force visit could serve as a warning sign to campuses facing ongoing antisemitism, such as Barnard College—which has a historic relationship with Columbia—prompting the schools to address in a timely fashion, according to Marcus.
“One would hope that institutions like Barnard would respond quickly to these issues now that the Department of Justice is involved,” he said. “It’s astonishing how weak some administrators have been in dealing with these serious problems, and they shouldn’t wait for the DOJ to step in.”
“But that’s what’s been happening,” he said. “Now, those who were unresponsive to Jewish students and organizations will likely get a more forceful response from the Department of Justice than they would have if they had been more proactive.”
Task forces can be about more talk than action, according to Marcus.
“They’re good at press releases but weak on follow-through,” he said. “But this is the Department of Justice bringing investigative power, and I expect it to be more than symbolic.”
Ari Shrage, head of Columbia’s Jewish Alumni Association, told JNS that this action by the Justice Department could be a watershed moment for Jewish college students.
“For the past 18 months, students have broken rules while the university puts out toothless statements instead of punishing students and banning masks,” he said. “Students who simply want to go to class suffer the consequences of the university’s leadership failures.”
“I hope that this and other government actions finally force the university to protect its Jewish students who simply want to go to school,” he added.
canisgallicus 