An official of the Justice Department leading President Trump’s fight against Harvard University—which has resulted in numerous lawsuits and the university losing billions in federal funding—states the government plans to take the University of California before court over claimed antisemitism.
Heading a multiagency task force on combating antisemitism, Leo Terrell, senior counsel for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, said in a Tuesday Fox News interview that other colleges “on the East Coast, on the West Coast, in the Midwest” and “mass lawsuits against [the] UC system” will be pursued.
“Expect hate crime charges brought forward by the federal government. Expect Title VII lawsuits,” Terrell said, citing U.S. civil rights legislation shielding against employment discrimination based on “race, color, religion, sex or national origin.” Apart from Harvard and six other American campuses, the task force has highlighted UCLA, USC, and UC Berkeley for inquiry.
Speaking separately in an interview with Jewish News Syndicate, Terrell said the campuses — which also include Columbia, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, New York and Northwestern universities and the University of Minnesota — have rejected task force investigators. Announced in March, the task force has not visited campuses, students, or law enforcement as scheduled due “resistance,” he said.
Terrell, a civil rights attorney who formerly worked in Los Angeles and is a former Fox News personality, refrained from answering an email from The Times requesting an interview and specifics on the investigations and pending lawsuits and from elaborating on the “resistance” comment.
A UC spokesman responded in a statement saying the institution “abhors antisemitism and is diligently working to address, counter and eradicate it in all its forms across the system.”
“We have been, and plan to continue, cooperating with the administration. Antisemitism has no place at UC or anywhere else in society,” said Rachel Zaentz, senior director of strategic and critical communications. “The university remains entirely focused on strengthening our programs and policies to root out antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.”
Regarding whether the task force has visited campuses or what information UC has asked from UCLA and UC Berkeley, UC has not made public details.
A USC spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether the task force has visited the campus.
“The university continues to publicly and unequivocally denounce antisemitism in all its forms and has taken strong actions to protect all of our students — including members of our Jewish community — from illegal discrimination of any kind,” the university said in a statement. “USC is proud to attract one of the largest Jewish student bodies in the country. We look forward to engaging with the task force on USC’s efforts to combat antisemitism.”
Terrell’s group also said in February that it would meet with mayors of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Boston. A spokesperson for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ office did not respond to a question about whether the L.A. meeting has taken place. Terrell said on Fox News that he was “ecstatic” about a recent meeting with New York Mayor Eric Adams, whom Terrell called a “new partner.”
The Education Department warned sixty campuses in letters in March to “protect Jewish students,” or “face potential enforcement.” They included USC, Pomona College, Stanford, Chapman University, Santa Monica College and Sacramento State in addition to four UC sites: San Diego, Santa Barbara, Berkeley and Davis.
Declaring that its lawyers believe there is a “potential pattern” of discrimination against Jewish employees at the state’s flagship higher education system, the Justice Department said same month it had started a civil rights investigation into claims of antisemitism at the University of California.
The White House has attacked Harvard, claiming that the oldest university in the country supports antisemitism in relation to pro-Palestinian demonstrations of the war in Gaza, which was started by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
After being cut off from billions in federal medical research and other funding and after its capacity to enrol foreign students was momentarily revoked prior to a Boston-based federal judge issuing an injunction last week, Harvard has sued the Trump administration. Thursday will be the hearing on the foreign student matter.
Harvard has stated it supports addressing issues regarding anti-Jewish sentiment but believes Trump is endangering academic freedom through demands to remake its governance, admissions policies, ideological diversity and student discipline.
This year, federal offices including the Education, Justice and Health and Human Services departments have placed dozens of colleges on notice over claims of antisemitism or discrimination; Harvard and Columbia have been subjected to the most severe actions.
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