US education authority probes antisemitic, anti-Muslim claims at colleges

The United States Department of Education said it has begun investigations of six colleges and one school district over accusations of antisemitic or anti-Muslim discrimination during an ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

"Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are—or are perceived to be—Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement on Friday.

In one such instance federal prosecutors last month charged a Cornell University student with allegedly making online threats against Jewish students at the Ivy League school.

The colleges under investigation were listed as Cornell, Columbia University and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York State, Lafayette College and the University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania and Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

The department said it was also investigating the Maize Unified School District in Kansas.

The advocacy group Anti-Defamation League has risen by about 400 percent in the first two weeks since the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, compared with the same period the previous year.