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Legislation introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate would require universities and the Education Department to immediately address reports of discrimination. It’s the latest effort by congressional Republicans to combat antisemitism on college campuses.
The Restoring Civility on Campus Act would provide more transparency for federal civil rights investigations into reports of discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, which includes antisemitism and Islamophobia. Provisions in the legislation are also aimed at bolstering the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights’ oversight of colleges that are under investigation. For example, the bill would require OCR staff to work in person at a college campus as they evaluate a complaint about a university.
The legislation also would temporarily increase the fine for universities that fail to disclose a crime motivated by antisemitism on their annual security reports, which are required by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security and Campus Crime Statistics Act. Currently, universities can be fined $69,733 per Clery violation, but the bill would raise the maximum fine to $1 million for the next two years.
Under the bill, OCR would be required to immediately open an investigation into any complaint involving alleged shared ancestry discrimination after Oct. 7, 2023, which is when Hamas attacked Israel. Follow the attack and the start of the war in Gaza, Jewish students reported an increase in antisemitic incidents on college campuses. OCR saw an increase in complaints alleging shared ancestry discrimination and opened dozens of investigations. So far, the agency has resolved just a handful.
Lawmakers said in the news release that “OCR has a poor track record of processing civil rights complaints in a timely and effective manner.”
OCR would also have to update complainants on the status of the investigation they prompted every 30 days till it’s completed. The legislation was sponsored by Iowa senator Joni Ernst and Louisiana senator Dr. Bill Cassidy, ranking member of the Senate education committee, along with two other Republicans.
“I have been demanding answers from this administration about what they are doing to combat the abhorrent and un-American spike in antisemitism on college campuses, and their inaction speaks volumes,” Ernst said in a statement. “Jewish students should not be forced to risk their safety in pursuit of an education. The Restoring Civility on Campus Act will force the Department of Education to stop sitting on its hands and comply with the law to protect students from the hate and violence that have exploded across the country.”
