3 universities in NJ could be next to have federal funds cut by Trump administration

📚 The U.S. DOE sent letters to 60 universities with a warning

📚 Protect Jewish students from antisemitism or face consequences

📚 Three NJ universities received the letter

The U.S. Department of Education has sent letters to 60 colleges and universities across the nation, including three in New Jersey, warning them of potential consequences if they do not “fulfill their obligations under the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus.”

The letter comes as one of the schools, Columbia University in Manhattan, had $400 million in federal funding cut off in an announcement by President Donald Trump on Friday. A day later, immigration officials arrested Columbia campus protest leader Mahmoud Khalil.

"There is no question that the cancellation of these funds will immediately impact research and other critical functions of the University, impacting students, faculty, staff, research, and patient care," Columbia Interim President Katrina Armstrong said.

New Jersey schools warned of consequences

Princeton University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, and Rutgers-Newark are among the schools that received the letter, warning them that they must protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination, or they will face consequences.

“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,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said.

The letters come after the Trump administration pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University due to the school’s continued inaction to protect Jewish students from discrimination during pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

“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 anti-discrimination laws,” McMahon said.

Direct investigations have been launched into five universities where widespread antisemitic harassment was reported. These include Columbia University, Northwestern University, Portland State University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

The other 55 universities are under investigation or monitoring in response to complaints filed with OCR.

The 60 schools that received letters from the Office for Civil Rights include:

• American University
• Arizona State University
• Boston University
• Brown University
• California State University, Sacramento
• Chapman University
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Drexel University
• Eastern Washington University
• Emerson College
• George Mason University
• Harvard University
• Illinois Wesleyan University
• Indiana University, Bloomington
• Johns Hopkins University
• Lafayette College
• Lehigh University
• Middlebury College
• Muhlenberg College
• Northwestern University
• Ohio State University
• Pacific Lutheran University
• Pomona College
• Portland State University
• Princeton University
• Rutgers University
• Rutgers University-Newark
• Santa Monica College
• Sarah Lawrence College
• Stanford University
• State University of New York Binghamton
• State University of New York Rockland
• State University of New York, Purchase
• Swarthmore College
• Temple University
• The New School
• Tufts University
• Tulane University
• Union College
• University of California Davis
• University of California San Diego
• University of California Santa Barbara
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Hawaii at Manoa
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• University of North Carolina
• University of South Florida
• University of Southern California
• University of Tampa
• University of Tennessee
• University of Virginia
• University of Washington-Seattle
• University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Wellesley College
• Whitman College
• Yale University

Last year, Rutgers University was called out by a congressional committee for what it called “pervasive antisemitism,” News 12 reported.

According to a statement issued from Rutgers and reported by News 12, “Rutgers continues to honor a voluntary agreement reached with the DOE Office for Civil Rights that includes wide-ranging efforts to continue fostering a campus environment free of antisemitism.”

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