Groups representing a wide range of colleges and universities on Tuesday joined one of the most important Jewish groups in the country to encourage the Trump government to change how it tries to combat campus -Antisemitism.
The federal government has Abruptly withdrawn billions of dollars In research financing of a handful of elite universities and threatened to go after others that it claims may not have done enough to punish discrimination. But a coalition including the American Jewish committee argued on Tuesday in a joint statement that the government had to follow the federal law carefully and avoid hasty actions that could endanger the investigation.
The federal civil rights legislation enables the government to close money on the basis of discrimination. However, the law also requires a detailed process of research and notification – a protocol that believes in higher education leaders that the Trump government has tarted.
Alarmed university leaders have difficulty convincing the White House to reconsider his approachAnd the joint statement represented an attempt to obtain leverage through a public alliance that reached further than higher education.
“The correct and essential role for the US government in tackling anti-Semitism is due to the powerful anti-discrimination laws of the nation,” said the American Jewish Committee, an interest organization, which was also signed by a range of higher education groups and the American Universition.
The groups said that the federal law allowed “powerful enforcement” and at the same time retain honesty for individuals and schools.
The American Jewish committee in particular warned that “exaggerated” reduction in financing “Imperil Science and Innovation, and ultimately to detract from the necessary fight against anti -Semitism and at the same time threaten the global priority of the American research universities”.
The association and the council said that their schools “promise constant consistent reform and transparent action to eradicate anti -Semitism and all other forms of hatred and prejudices from our campuses.”
The White House and the Education Department did not immediately comment.
The Trump government has previously rejected complaints after it had withdrawn or threatened to withdraw, more than $ 12 billion in research financing that is designated to flow to a selection of schools, including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard and Northwest.
Until now, Harvard is the only university that has challenged his school -specific financing to the court. Afterwards Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, accused the University of “Showboating” and said that Harvard “more than anyone else knew that playing Ball would harm their team.”
Higher education officials, however, say that they are looking for the administration to follow established standards.
“It is really an important moment to stick to the principle of the decent process and that the rule of law works here,” said Barbara Snyder, the president of the Association of American Universities, in an interview.
Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, said in a statement that “efforts to eradicate hatred, should tackle real concerns and problems, do not cause any damage to the advanced and often life -saving investigation.”
Mr. Mitchell suggested that the methods of the Trump government did not actually work to protect Jewish and other students who are subject to discrimination and intimidation. “
But defenders of the White House approach notice that Columbia agree with a list of requirements After the government has undressed it of around $ 400 million in subsidies and contracts.
Columbias Deal with the government Revelry Under conservative critics of the academic world, and Mrs Snyder acknowledged that she was not sure whether the joint statement would cause the Trump government to change its strategy.
“We have no idea if the White House or someone else will care,” she said, noted the long ties between her group and the American Jewish committee.
“It’s exactly the right thing to do,” she said.
Former representative Ted Deuch of Florida, a Democrat who is the Chief Executive of the Jewish organization, said that the explanation was intended to indicate that combating anti -Semitism and standing up for a considerable process was not apart.
“Both things matter,” he said.
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities – which were shaving A letter last month that challenged the Trump administration -Subject also the joint statement, just like the American Association of Community Colleges, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities.
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