Here We Go: DoJ Opens Title VII Investigation Into Anti-Semitism in California Universities

Remember when the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) allowed their students to set up “Zionist check points” to create a “Jew exclusion zone”? Or when a UC Berkeley professor offered extra credit to students who attended an anti-Israel rally just 18 days after October 7? Or when UC Davis students blocked access to Jewish students as part of their protest against Israel in May 2024?

Readers may have forgotten these specific incidents. Newly installed Attorney General Pam Bondi has not. Gabe Kaminsky reports at The Free Press that Bondi has launched an investigation into California’s premier state-university system — it has two, the other being the California State University system — for potentially systemic Title VII violations. If the Department of Justice finds evidence of a pattern of discriminatory conduct, it could lose eligibility for any federal funding.

And they aren’t alone:

The investigation comes on the heels of the DOJ forming a task force in February made up of representatives from the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to combat antisemitism. That follows the executive order President Donald Trump signed in his first days in office allocating federal resources to address “the explosion of antisemitism” on college campuses. The order, moreover, directed the DOJ to take immediate action to “quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.”

The antisemitism task force is being led by Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney and recent Fox News contributor. It is under the auspices of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, an office that Trump tapped attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, to lead.

This UC investigation comes less than 48 hours after the Trump administration announced a review of federal funding to Columbia University, which had been a hotbed for anti-Israel activism since October 7, 2023, and where dozens of students were arrested last spring for participating in encampments and taking over a campus building. As The Free Press reported yesterday, Trump’s antisemitism task force is looking into more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia as part of the review—led by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the General Services Administration.

The specific focus of the investigation, according to a letter from the DoJ’s Civil Rights Division, is apparently employment discrimination against Jews. Two Deputy Assistant AGs from that division warned UC president Michael Drake that they had received enough information “suggesting” violations to open a formal probe. Time to open the books:

Title VII prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2. When the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a state or local government employer is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination in violation of Title VII, it is the Attorney General’s responsibility to take appropriate action to eliminate that violation, including presenting the matter to the appropriate court for civil proceedings. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-6(a).

Our investigation is based on information suggesting that since at least October 7, 2023, the University of California may be engaged in certain employment practices that discriminate against employees who are or are perceived to be Jewish or Israeli. Accordingly, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division has authorized a full investigation to determine whether the University of California is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above.

Interestingly, the letter doesn’t make any mention of Title VI, which involves equality of access to education, violations of which could also suspend eligibility for federal funding. Given the string of incidents on UC campuses, there seems to be at least some reason to investigate the actions by universities to leave Jewish students at the mercy of pro-Hamas radicals on campuses. One can imagine that a parallel probe could launch into those potential violations, or that a Title VII investigation could expand to include Title VI violations as needed. 

This makes two points plain about the new administration. First, they plan to hold Academia’s feet to the fire over its radical politicization of campuses, especially over the last 18 months of anti-Semitic antics. But just as important, they are making a show of using the DoJ rather than the Department of Education to enforce federal law on college campuses. The Trump administration wants to end the Dept of Ed at the earliest possible moment, while its defenders have cited its role in policing the Civil Rights Act in education. Handing that portfolio to Bondi undercuts any reason for a Department of Ed, not to mention escalate the seriousness of that policing significantly. 

That’s the real purpose of this letter — to impress upon Dr. Drake and the rest of Academia that the new administration isn’t fooling around any longer. If they want to turn their institutions into indoctrination hellholes, they can feel free to do so … but without a dime from the federal government. And if they’re discriminating in employment too, then forget about the “feel free” part as well.