(NewsNation) — The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Northwestern University over its handling of alleged antisemitic incidents.
The Title VI investigation is the result of a complaint filed by Zachary Marschall, the editor in chief of Campus Reform, a self-proclaimed “conservative watchdog” of higher education. Campus Reform is not affiliated with the university but says it “exposes liberal bias and abuse on the nation’s college campuses.”
Title VI protects people from discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
The complaint cited events from October, including a vigil to honor the lives lost in Gaza from the Israel-Hamas war and a walkout calling for the support of Palestinians, as incidents of antisemitic harassment. These events were both hosted by Northwestern University’s Students for Justice in Palestine.
Marschall’s complaint stated more than 100 students attended a vigil near the Deering Library, where the colors of the Palestinian flag were projected onto the building, according to the Daily Northwestern. It also cites an Instagram post from Northwestern’s Asian American Studies Program, which said Hamas is a “political group” and objected to the phrase “Hamas is ISIS,” calling it Islamophobic.
“I submitted the complaint as a journalist deeply concerned about the campus environment for Jewish students,” Marshall told the Daily Northwestern, a student-run newspaper at the university.
In response to the complaint, Northwestern spokesperson Jon Yates said the university does not tolerate antisemitism or any discriminatory acts.
“The University will respond to the Department of Education and cooperate with its investigation,” Yates said. “The complaint against Northwestern was not filed by a member of our community but instead by an outside organization.”
The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is currently investigating dozens of other universities, including the University of Illinois Chicago, the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota and Yale University.
The investigations come as antisemitism and anti-Muslim incidents on college campuses have surged since the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.