A federal task force is coming to investigate 10 U.S. college campuses, including USC and UCLA, with the goal to combat antisemitism and reported incidents since October 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
The DOJ also said Wednesday that the new task force — created after President Trump’s executive order aimed to “root out antisemitic harassment in schools and on college campuses” — has opened “a civil pattern or practice investigation” into the University of California.
Launched under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination, the department’s investigation into the UC will assess whether the university has engaged “in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, religion and national origin” against professors, staff or other employees by allowing “an antisemitic hostile work environment to exist” on its campuses, officials said in a news release.
In a statement, task force leader Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, called out the “outbreak of antisemitic incidents” at institutions of higher education, including his alma mater, UCLA.
“The impact upon UC’s students has been the subject of considerable media attention and multiple federal investigations. But these campuses are also workplaces, and the Jewish faculty and staff employed there deserve a working environment free of antisemitic hostility and hate,” Terrell said. “The President, Attorney General and this task force are committed to combatting antisemitism for all Jewish Americans.”
Over the last school year, both UCLA and USC campuses saw violent clashes with police and counter-protestors, along with the removal of pro-Palestine encampments, as part of a national movement of student-led protests on colleges since the Israel-Hamas conflict — currently paused under a fragile ceasefire deal — ignited in late 2023. Protesting students have raised concerns about their schools’ involvement in Israeli interests.
The “Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism” identified UCLA, USC, UC Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, Columbia, Northwestern, John Hopkins, New York and George Washington universities as schools that “have experienced antisemitic incidents since October 2023.”
According to the DOJ, the task force notified all 10 universities of the upcoming visits. Terrell, its leader, informed administrators that the task force was “aware of allegations that the schools may have failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law.”
No further details about the allegations at the schools were given.
Other details were not yet known about when the future federal task force visits will happen, or what they will entail.
Terrell said that the Trump administration is committed to ensuring “no one should feel unsafe or unwelcome on college campuses because of their religion.”
In a post to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said that he would cut federal funding from universities that allow “illegal protests” and expel or arrest any students who participate.
In a statement Wednesday, the University of California said it would be “unwavering in its commitment to combating antisemitism and protecting everyone’s civil rights,” according to The Hill. “We continue to take specific steps to foster an environment free of harassment and discrimination for everyone in the university community.”
In 2023, the California Department of Justice reported a rise in both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim hate statewide. Anti-Jewish bias rose 52.9%, from 189 in 2022 to 289 in 2023, while attacks against Muslim groups rose from 25 in 2022 to 40 in 2023, the DOJ report said. A study from the state Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA) revealed that 1 in 2 Muslim students have faced harassment at California colleges.
The federal DOJ did not respond to inquiries about the task force visits, antisemitism allegations, or if similar efforts regarding anti-Palestinian/Arab or Islamophobia would be made.
“This Department of Justice will always defend Jewish Americans, protect civil rights, and leverage our resources to eradicate institutional antisemitism in our nation’s universities,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a statement Wednesday.
Violence broke out last school year at UCLA’s “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” in late spring, when a clash with counter-protestors resulted in multiple injuries and led to over 200 arrests, prompting investigation and increased safety measures at the UC. At one point, protesters briefly took over a campus building.
In August 2024, a federal judge ruled that UCLA must take action to prevent alleged “antisemitic zones” and create equal campus access for students, following allegations that Jewish UCLA students were being blocked from some parts of campus due to encampment activity. Three Jewish UCLA students filed a civil lawsuit, claiming they were harassed and excluded from critical parts of campus during the first Palestine Solidarity Encampment.
The suit alleges that activists within the encampment targeted Jewish students and used checkpoints, built barriers, and locked arms to prevent Jewish students from passing through. But social media posts showed some Jewish student groups, like Jewish Voice for Peace UCLA, joining the encampment.
Other Jewish UCLA community members welcomed the coming task force to its campus.
“We support efforts to make UCLA a safer and more welcoming campus environment for all students, including Jewish students,” said Daniel Gold, executive director of the school’s Hillel group. “We hope that this visit will continue to improve the campus climate for Jewish students.”
Gold said that the whole UCLA community, including school administration, has a critical role in countering antisemitism.
In a letter to the administration in February, a group of Jewish faculty pointed out a systemic rise in antisemitism on campus. They accused UCLA’s own task force to fight Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian/Arab hate of being “deeply misleading.”
But some pro-Palestine protesters at UCLA said they were subjected to racial, sexual and violent epithets by counter-protesters last year.
In mid-February, UCLA officials said that two pro-Palestinian groups, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine (GSJP), were suspended and placed under administrative review after recent allegations of harassment and vandalism were reported at the home of UC Regent Jay Sures.
“UCLA has been and continues to be committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of hate, which have no place on our campus or anywhere,” said Mary Osako, vice chancellor for strategic communications, in a statement Wednesday.
Osako said the school has taken numerous steps to wipe out antisemitism, including new safety guidelines, limitations for campus protests, and a new safety division that works with the LAPD.
Similarly last spring, USC became a focal point of pro-Palestinian protests, as several large encampments popped up on campus, which officials said were later cleared by police and led to at least 90 arrests.
The university received national attention after administrators canceled its Muslim valedictorian’s commencement speech and later its commencement altogether, citing safety concerns, which in part sparked the protests. As tensions escalated, some Jewish students reported feeling unsafe on campus.
Last April, a swastika was found on campus — and quickly removed — amid ongoing protesting activities. After over a week of protests, police cleared the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” in early May.
In an emailed statement this week, USC officials condemned antisemitism and reiterated its stance to protect all students.
“The university has taken strong actions to protect all of our students — including members of our Jewish community — from illegal discrimination of any kind,” the statement read. “USC is proud to enroll one of the largest Jewish student bodies in the country, and we look forward to speaking with the Department of Justice about everything we have done to create a welcoming and non-discriminatory campus environment for all members of our community.”
On Wednesday, leaders of Jewish Voice for Peace L.A. (JVP LA) called the incoming task force the administration’s “latest iteration of efforts to silence student movements.”
Organizers reiterated that L.A. student protests were peaceful, with leaders organizing efforts like Shabbat services, Passover seders, Jummah prayers, and seminars about topics including antisemitism and Palestinian history.
“They shared meals, studied together, and created spaces for solidarity. The baseless labeling of these peaceful protests as violent or antisemitic—especially when many of the organizers were Jewish students themselves—amounts to a McCarthyite campaign of anti-Palestinian repression, aimed at justifying further attacks on constitutionally protected freedoms,” JVP leaders said in a statement.
“Through collective action, students have used their demands to shine a light on the investments needed on campus, all while fostering a sense of community that transcends religious and cultural divides.”