This post was updated May 29 at 12:33 a.m.
The head of the Trump administration’s federal antisemitism task force said Tuesday that the UC should expect discrimination lawsuits.
The Trump administration established the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism in February to identify and eliminate antisemitic harassment in schools and across college campuses, according to the Department of Justice’s website. The task force announced in February it would visit 10 universities – including UCLA and UC Berkeley.
These visits would consist of meetings with affected students and staff, university leadership and local law enforcement in the wake of allegations of antisemitism on their campuses to see if remediation is necessary, according to the Department of Justice’s website.
UCLA alumnus and task force lead Leo Terrell also said in his Tuesday interview with Fox News that the UC will face hate crime charges and Title VII lawsuits for antisemitism. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination by employers on the basis of race, national origin, sex and religion, according to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s website.
Terrell said the federal government will financially attack universities allowing antisemitism.
“We are going to go after them where it hurts them financially,” Terrell said. “There is numerous ways to hurt them financially.”
Rachel Zaentz, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, said in an emailed statement that the University has been cooperative with the Trump administration’s probes and condemns antisemitism.
“The University of California abhors antisemitism and is diligently working to address, counter and eradicate it in all its forms across the system,” she said in the statement. “We have been, and plan to continue, cooperating with the Administration. Antisemitism has no place at UC or anywhere else in society. The University remains entirely focused on strengthening our programs and policies to root out antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.”
The Trump administration has withheld federal funding from six universities – Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Northwestern University and Princeton University – for allegedly allowing antisemitism on their campuses.
The administration accused universities of permitting antisemitism on their campuses, arguing that pro-Palestine protesters attacked or harassed Jewish students and faculty.
After the administration pulled $2.2 billion in research grants from Harvard on April 14, the university rejected its demands, leading to the administration requesting to cancel contracts worth $100 million May 27.
The Trump administration also revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll international students, but a federal judge temporarily blocked the move Friday.
The Department of Justice launched an investigation into the UC in March for alleged antisemitic treatment of its employees.
[Related: Department of Justice opens investigation into antisemitism allegations at UC]
The Department of Justice also filed a statement of interest in March supporting plaintiffs in a June 2024 lawsuit filed by three Jewish students and a faculty member. The lawsuit alleged that UCLA allowed pro-Palestine protesters to create a “Jew Exclusion Zone” during the first Palestine solidarity encampment in April 2024.
The statement said UCLA enabled antisemitism on campus and has attempted to “evade liability.”
[Related: DOJ files statement of interest supporting plaintiffs in UCLA antisemitism lawsuit]
Chancellor Julio Frenk announced the Initiative to Combat Antisemitism – which will apply recommendations regarding complaint systems and education about antisemitism from the UCLA Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias – on March 10.
The Department of Justice has not announced any lawsuits against the UC as of Wednesday.
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