WASHINGTON DC – U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK), co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, sent a bipartisan letter requesting that Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona designate a senior official with the responsibility of overseeing the Department’s efforts to counter antisemitism on college campuses. The letter also asks the Department of Education to provide a report and briefing to Congress on the status of pending civil rights complaints related to antisemitic discrimination at colleges and universities.
“As co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, we are deeply disturbed by the alarming rise of antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish students on college campuses across the United States,” wrote the senators. “We therefore request that you provide a report and briefing to Congress on the status of pending complaints related to antisemitic discrimination, as well as designate a senior official with the responsibility of overseeing the Department’s efforts to counter antisemitic discrimination in higher education.”
“Jewish Americans are facing an unprecedented rise in antisemitism, particularly after the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” they continued. “We appreciate the Department of Education’s May 7, 2024 Dear Colleague reminding schools that receive federal funding that they have a legal responsibility to address discrimination against students, including Jewish students, and recognize that the Office for Civil Rights has opened in recent months dozens of investigations into complaints relating to campus antisemitism. However, far more work needs to be done to hold schools accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on college campuses, including by swiftly resolving pending investigations related to antisemitism.”
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
Senators Rosen and Lankford serve as co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism. The Task Force was instrumental in pushing for the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. They also introduced the bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act to take historic action to counter antisemitism in the United States, including by creating the first-ever National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism.
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