The federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating the University of Wisconsin-Madison for antisemitism, according to a press release issued Monday.
UW is one of 60 institutions that received letters “warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities,” according to the release.
Protesters camped on Library Mall for more than a week last spring, demanding the university divest from Israel in response to Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. After a police crackdown on May 1, 2024, the encampment remained for several more days as organizers negotiated with campus leaders, ultimately agreeing to dismantle the campus in exchange for access to discuss investments with “relevant decision-makers at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association and the Universities of Wisconsin.”
In January 2024, before the encampment protest took place, the conservative news outlet Campus Reform filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s OCR against UW, alleging that protesters chanting “glory to the martyrs” in a protest in October 2023 was antisemitic.
The Department of Education website lists two other open Title VI complaints involving the UW — one filed in October 2020 and one filed in September 2024. It’s not clear whether either involves antisemitism. The Department of Education press office did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarification.
At the time the complaint was filed, the university said in a statement, “The complaint against UW–Madison was not filed by a member of our community but instead by an outside organization that has filed complaints against several other institutions of higher education. UW–Madison condemns antisemitism in all its forms and strives to promote a welcoming campus environment for all members of the campus community, free from discrimination, including harassment based upon race, religion, national origin or other protected categories.”
Last Friday, OCR directed its enforcement staff to make prioritize what it calls a backlog of complaints alleging antisemitic violence and harassment.
A UW spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the letter warning of enforcement actions.
