The new investigation is the latest from Trump as he cracks down on alleged anti-Jewish incidents nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into antisemitic complaints reportedly mishandled at Haverford College on Wednesday. The Department cited credible allegations from those familiar with the matter of several incidents of harassment or discrimination against Jewish students on campus. President Trump has been vocal in his second term in cracking down on campus antisemitism, stemming from widespread anti-Israel riots from students after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel from Hamas.
“Jewish students—like all students—deserve to learn and thrive in an environment free from wanton hostility and intentional intimidation,” said the Department of Education’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor. He said that campus leadership at Haverford allegedly told Jewish students to act “brave” after some complained they were in danger on campus. The college reportedly told those same students that it was unreasonable for them to expect to feel completely safe.
“The Trump administration will not allow Jewish life to be pushed into the shadows because college leaders are too craven to respond appropriately to unlawful antisemitic incidents on campus,” Trainor added. So far, President Trump has investigated numerous universities and colleges for antisemitism complaints, including Harvard, Northwestern, Columbia, Cornell, Amherst and Barnard College.
Among the complaints against Haverford, campus leadership is accused of blaming rogue wind and storms for the removal of posters on bulletin boards around campus calling for the release of the Jewish hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. Many of the hostages were children and elderly adults that were starved to death or murdered on camera. The school denied removing the posters from campus, but several witnesses have confirmed that only posters relating to hostages were taken down, and not those relating to other events on campus. Haverford is further accused of completely ignoring several other complaints from Jewish students.
Allegations of antisemitism are reportedly not new for Haverford. In May, the college’s president Wendy Raymond was called to testify before Congress, where she faced a public questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
During her testimony, Raymond refused to give information to the House Education and Workforce Committee seeking the number of students and faculty at different colleges that had been disciplined for antisemitic behavior. Raymond also declined to comment on whether the school investigated a professor at the college for calling the Oct. 7th attacks – which killed over 1,200 Jewish civilians – an “historic moment” and symbolized “imprisoned people breaking free from their chains.”
In January, five students at Haverford filed official complaints against the school for antisemitism. A federal judge initially rejected the students’ lawsuit but did allow them the opportunity to amend it. In total, thousands of Jewish students around the country have reported antisemitic acts on campus. The Trump Administration has opened official investigations into 60 colleges and universities.
