EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Opens Antisemitism Investigation Into the University of California System

The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the sprawling University of California system over concerns about antisemitism, The Free Press has learned.

In a letter sent Monday evening to the UC system and seen by The Free Press, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division informed UC president Michael Drake of its investigation.

“Our investigation is based on information suggesting that since at least October 7, 2023, the University of California may be engaged in certain employment practices that discriminate against employees who are or are perceived to be Jewish or Israeli,” wrote DOJ officials Mac Warner and Michael E. Gates in the letter. “Accordingly, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division has authorized a full investigation to determine whether the University of California is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination as set forth above.”

“We were recently notified of the Department of Justice’s decision to initiate a civil rights investigation in the University of California system,” a spokesperson for the UC system told The Free Press. “We want to be clear: the University of California is unwavering in its commitment to combating antisemitism and protecting everyone’s civil rights. We continue to take specific steps to foster an environment free of harassment and discrimination for everyone in the university community.”

The investigation comes on the heels of the DOJ forming a task force in February made up of representatives from the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services to combat antisemitism. That follows the executive order President Donald Trump signed in his first days in office allocating federal resources to address “the explosion of antisemitism” on college campuses. 

The order, moreover, directed the DOJ to take immediate action to “quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities.”

The antisemitism task force is being led by Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney and recent Fox News contributor. It is under the auspices of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, an office that Trump tapped attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, to lead.

This UC investigation comes less than 48 hours after the Trump administration announced a review of federal funding to Columbia University, which had been a hotbed for anti-Israel activism since October 7, 2023, and where dozens of students were arrested last spring for participating in encampments and taking over a campus building. 

As The Free Press reported yesterday, Trump’s antisemitism task force is looking into more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia as part of the review—led by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the General Services Administration.

The investigation follows a “Dear Colleague” letter sent by the Department of Education’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights two weeks ago which warned universities that the department “will no longer tolerate the overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions.” The letter states the department will “vigorously enforce the law on equal terms” to any K-12 or higher education institution which receives federal funding.

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Gabe Kaminsky is a reporter at The Free Press. Send him tips: gabe@thefp.com. Additional reporting by Frannie Block.