Campus Watch March 12, 2025

UCLA Chancellor Announces Initiative to Combat Antisemitism

UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk announced an Initiative to Combat Antisemitism on March 10.

Stuart Gabriel, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, will be leading the initiative and will report directly to Frenk. “Through this initiative, UCLA will implement recommendations of the Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, which was chaired by Professor Gabriel,” Frenk said. “These recommendations include: enhancing relevant training and education, improving the complaint system, assuring enforcement of current and new laws and policies, and cooperating with stakeholders.” He added: “UCLA is at an inflection point. Building on past efforts and lessons, we must now push ourselves to extinguish antisemitism, completely and definitively. The principles on which UCLA was founded — and which we continue to advance — point us toward a clear course of action: We must persevere in our fight to end hate, however it manifests itself.”

UCLA Hillel Executive Director Dan Gold told The Journal, “We welcome Chancellor Frenk’s formation of an Initiative to Combat Antisemitism at UCLA and look forward to working alongside UCLA and Prof. Stuart Gabriel to achieve the goals of the Initiative. Chancellor Frenk’s strong leadership inspires, in our community, a feeling of deep appreciation and hope for the future. We share his vision that UCLA will become a place where all students, faculty and staff can learn and express themselves without fear or discrimination.”

Trump Announces Arrest of “Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas” Columbia Graduate

President Donald Trump announced in a March 10 TruthSocial post that Mahmoud Khalil, who Trump described as “a Radical Foreign Pro-Hamas Student on the campus of Columbia University,” is being detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

“This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump wrote. “We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it. Many are not students, they are paid agitators. We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here.” A federal judge barred the administration from deporting him March 10; a hearing will be held on March 12. 

According to CNN, Khalil is a recent graduate from Columbia and that the State Department is revoking his green card. The university had investigated allegations against Khalil over his involvement in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) coalition that was behind the anti-Israel encampment in the spring. Khalil told the Associated Press he acted as a spokesperson for the protesters, but was not involved in the group’s leadership or social media posts. Some groups, like the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), contend that the Trump administration is targeting Khalil for “his peaceful anti-genocide activism” in violation of the First Amendment.

Trump Admin Revokes $400 Million from Columbia

The Trump administration is revoking $400 million from Columbia University, with the rationale being that the university has been unable to adequately address antisemitism on campus.

“Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a March 7 statement. “For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus.”

University Interim President Katrina Armstrong said in a statement that day to alumni, “I want to assure the entire Columbia community that we are committed to working with the federal government to address their legitimate concerns. To that end, Columbia can, and will, continue to take serious action toward combatting antisemitism on our campus.”

Trump Admin Investigating 60 Universities Over Antisemitism

The Trump administration announced March 10 that it is investigating 60 universities over their handling of antisemitism on their respective campuses.

Among the universities being investigated include Columbia University, Cornell University, Brown University, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and USC, according to Fox News. 

“The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”