Sixty higher education institutions were sent a letter by federal officials, warning them of "potential enforcement actions if they do not ... protect Jewish students on campus," the US Department of Education announced Monday.
The letter, from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, came three days after the Trump administration on Friday canceled $400 million in grants and contracts to Columbia University because of the New York City university's "continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."
More grant and contract cancellations at other colleges and universities were expected to follow, the federal announcement said, because President Donald Trump has said higher ed institutions will lose federal funding if it allows "illegal protests" and fails to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment.
The federal government said the University of Michigan and 59 other institutions are under investigation for potentially violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination among institutions receiving federal funds on the basis of race, color, and national origin, including Jewish ancestry.
"The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite US campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the announcement. “US colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by US taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”
UM is aware of the Department of Education press release but has not received a letter, university spokesperson Kay Jarvis said Monday.
Regent Sarah Hubbard, past chair of the UM Board of Regents, said the university has been working on many issues to address the concerns of all students and expects university officials will share all that has been done with US Education Department officials.
"The university has been diligent in focusing on free speech for everyone on campus," Hubbard said. "We know some felt like they were being harassed by those who were saying things that were antisemitic last year. We do feel like we have done a lot in our policy changes and security changes to make the campus a safe place for everyone. The difference between last academic year and this academic year are significant."
Among the changes, the Board of Regents voted on a neutrality policy that forbids university officials to take a stance on political or social issues unless they are related to the internal governance of the university.
In January 2024, the board also approved a new statement of free speech in which it noted that not all ideas are equal. "Our deep commitment to free expression does not extend to speech or conduct that violates the law or University policy, including targeted speech that involves bullying, defamation, destruction of property, harassment, violence, or threats," board said.
Failure to respond to antisemitism
The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced in June it had entered into an agreement with UM after it received two complaints alleging the university failed to respond to the harassment of Jewish students and resolved both of them. Federal officials said Monday it was prioritizing a backlog of allegations of antisemitic violence and harassment that had languished under the Biden administration.
It is not clear how much funding UM gets from the federal government. But UM is among the nation's top public universities in research spending. Federal funding is the largest part of UM's annual research expenditures, making up 57% or $1.17 billion of the university's $2.04 billion in research spending last year.
Tensions escalated between Jewish and pro-Palestinian students following the Oct 7, 2023, surprise attack by Hamas on Israel that led to 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of about 250 individuals. An Israeli counterattack on Gaza left tens of thousands of people dead and an estimated $18.5 billion in infrastructure damage before a ceasefire was reached in January.
During the war, pro-Palestinian students and supporters at UM intensified their efforts to get the university to divest from its endowment and investments in Israel. UM said divestment wouldn't happen because of policies that shield the endowments from political pressures.
Numerous protest were held on UM's campus, and some spilled over to the homes of UM regents and leaders and in some cases included vandalism. Twelve pro-Palestinian activists are facing criminal charges linked to activities at UM.
In June 2024, eight months after Oct. 7, dozens of complaints about antisemitism and Islamophobia had been filed at Michigan's three largest universities, with the most coming at the UM. At the time, UM Office for the Dean of Students had received 140 reports related to alleged antisemitism and 28 reports, related to alleged Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias or discrimination based on Palestinian identity.
UM said complaints had grown as tensions increased on campus amid the war in Gaza. Arab American leaders condemned all discrimination but suggested that antisemitism claims have been "weaponized" in some cases to curb free speech.
In August, President Santa Ono testified about how UM handles campus antisemitism before the Education and Workforce Committee of the US House of Representatives. His testimony was a transcribed interview, meaning it was not conducted during a live hearing and wasn't open to the public or press.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a complaint with the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights against Ono and filed a lawsuit for allegedly prioritizing antisemitism over Islamophobia on campus amid tensions between Arab and Jewish students over the war.
In December, UM officials fired Rachel Dawson, the former director of the university's Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, after she reportedly made antisemitic comments in a conversation at a conference.