On March 10, Wellesley College, among 60 universities and colleges, received a letter from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR), warning of potential enforcement actions if it fails to fulfill its obligations to protect Jewish students on campus under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Title VI prohibits any institution that receives federal funds from discriminating and harassing on the basis of race, color, national origin and shared ancestry, which includes Jewish ancestry, the Education Department wrote in its press release earlier today.
This letter follows the Education Department and Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism’s decision to cancel Columbia University’s $400 million in federal funding last Friday.
The College said they are currently reviewing the letter from the OCR.
“Wellesley condemns antisemitism and other forms of hate and discrimination and has taken action to ensure that all our students, including Jewish students, have a strong sense of belonging at Wellesley,” said the College in a written statement to the News.
In Nov. 2023, the Brandeis Center, a Jewish legal rights advocacy group, filed a civil rights complaint against the College on WHAT.
The letter marks the latest action from the Trump administration that ramped up investigations against higher education on antisemitism. On Friday, OCR ordered enforcement staff to prioritize resolving antisemitism complaints, which the Education Department said were left “unresolved by the previous administration.”
“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,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in the press release announcing the issuing of these letters.
She noted, “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.”
Other liberal arts schools, such as Pomona College, Middlebury College, and Swarthmore College, were also among the sixty institutions to receive letters. Other Boston area schools on the list include Harvard University, Tufts University, and Boston University.
The College stated, “We are continuing to make progress to improve the climate on campus and to ensure compliance with Title VI, including encouraging reporting and establishing mandatory Title VI anti-discrimination training for students and for other community members.”
The College also pointed to their improved grade of B in the Anti-Defamation League’s 2025 Campus Antisemitism Report Card, as evidence of the College’s substantial improvement over the past year.
The College has stated that their work on these issues is ongoing and that they look forward to sharing the results of this important work with the OCR.
Contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruby Barenberg and Valida Pau
