Tulane University received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education on Monday, March 10, stating that they are under investigation for alleged “relentless antisemitic eruptions,” which may constitute violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The letter, based on complaints the university received from the Office for Civil Rights after a series of pro-Palestine campus protests in December 2023, warns that violations of the Civil Rights Act could lead to enforcement.
This announcement comes a week after the Department of Education canceled $400 million of its $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University on the same charges, namely “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
If the probe finds that Tulane violated the Civil Rights Act, the consequences are unclear.
However, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated on Monday that U.S. colleges and universities benefit from public tax-funded investments, and that federal financial support “is a privilege … contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal anti-discrimination laws.”
Tulane is among 60 colleges and universities nationwide that received similar letters. These letters follow Trump’s executive order in late January focusing on “additional measures to combat anti-semitism.”
The order states that the heads of the Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism – composed of members of the Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. General Services Administration – should submit, among other items, an inventory and analysis of all administrative complaints alleging civil rights violations related to campus antisemitism after Oct. 7, 2023.
The order also threatens the possibility of removing “alien students and staff” involved in the protests.
On Saturday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Syrian-born Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who helped lead the Columbia University pro-Palestine protests in April 2024, after he was told that his student visa was being revoked.
Last April, a group of about 30 pro-Palestine protesters set up an encampment outside Gibson Hall for three days before state and local police cleared the area overnight. Before the encampment, 200 protestors marched from Freret Street to the front of the university. Fourteen protesters, including two Tulane students, were arrested in the clearing. Seven students were suspended for their participation.
