The Department of Education says dozens of schools, including six in Massachusetts, are facing “potential enforcement.”
Six Massachusetts colleges and universities are among dozens threatened by the Trump administration over allegations of continued antisemitism on campuses.
Boston University, Emerson College, Harvard University, Tufts University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Wellesley College are on a list of 60 schools nationwide that the Department of Education has warned of "potential enforcement actions."
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Letters from Education Secretary Linda McMahon were addressed to the schools on Monday, notifying them they were under investigation for possible Title VI violations for allegations of antisemitic discrimination and harassment.
Other New England schools that received letters include Brown University in Rhode Island, Middlebury College in Vermont and Yale University in Connecticut.
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"I don't think that taking away federal money from the universities for research is the solution," Harvard student Charles Covit said. "I do think that there is change that needs to be seen. I mean, on Wednesday, Mohammed El-Kurd, who's said that every Zionist will perish, is going to be coming to speak at Harvard, and no one from the university has said a word. So clearly, something is still wrong."
"The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. 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," McMahon said in a statement. "U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws."
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The Trump administration has added 55 of the schools to a list of five already being investigated since last month.
"It's something that's clearly anti-democratic, it's trying to tell people what they should say, and how they should behave, and how universities should behave, and that's something that authoritarian leaders try to do," Harvard professor Ryan Enos said. "They target universities, and that's what we see here."
The Harvard media relations office did not respond to NBC10 Boston's request for comment.
