President Donald Trump’s administration is ensuring accountability for campus antisemitism, US Assistant Attorney General and Justice Department Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon assured the Israeli-American Council at a Sunday gala.
“One of the encouraging things in this period of darkness – for the first time you are actually finally starting to see accountability for the bad behavior of a lot of people,” Dhillon said at the IAC United Against Hate Gala in Los Angeles.
Dhillon added that the administration was taking a “whole-of-government approach” to address antisemitism at American academic institutions. This included executive orders and actions by federal agencies.
<br><strong>Trump 'personally invested' in combatting campus antisemitism</strong><br><strong> </strong><br>
Trump is “personally invested” in the effort, she continued. “He knows exactly what is going on on college campuses; he is very familiar with it.”
Dhillon has been instrumental in the Trump administration’s crackdown on university radicalism after unrest erupted on American campuses in the wake of the October 7 massacre.
IAC said in a Tuesday statement that Dhillon was leading the administration’s efforts, including recommending funding freezes and the deportation of law-breaking activists.
Dhillon is involved in the negotiations with Columbia University, which in July said that it had come to an agreement with the federal government.
The resolution would see Columbia pay a $200 million settlement to the government over three years and a $21 million settlement to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Changes to Columbia’s disciplinary processes and campus security would also be codified. The university did not admit to government conclusions that it had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by tolerating a hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students; however, it has acknowledged “the very serious and painful challenges our institution has faced with antisemitism.”
The agreement came after $400 million in federal grants and another $1.3 million in federal funding were frozen in March. The Trump administration has also sought to cancel the visas of radical activists, such as Columbia University Apartheid Divest leader Mahmoud Khalil.
