Middlebury College is one of 60 colleges and universities that received a letter on Monday from the U.S. Department of Education warning of “potential enforcement actions” if they fail to “protect Jewish students on campus.”
The letter, from the federal agency’s Office for Civil Rights, went to every institution of higher education that is the subject of an open investigation into antisemitism on campus. Several Ivy League schools were on the list, along with colleges and universities across the country, such as Tufts and Stanford.
“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. University leaders must do better,” U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “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 anti-discrimination laws.”
StandWithUs — a pro-Israel advocacy group — filed a complaint against Middlebury in February 2024, leading to a federal probe that began the following month. In a statement, a Middlebury spokesperson said the college is “fully cooperating” with the investigation.
“We are committed to our educational mission, and that includes supporting all students with no tolerance for discriminatory behavior on our campus,” the statement said.
In a 20-page complaint, StandWithUs alleges that when Jewish students attempted to organize a vigil to honor victims in the days after the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Middlebury administrators “immediately attempted to hamper their efforts” and that the school “failed to respond adequately to reports about Students for Justice in Palestine harassing Jewish students.”
The group also claims that Middlebury has prevented students from starting a chapter of Chabad — a Jewish organization — on campus.
Shortly after the complaint was filed, the college launched a web page titled “Middlebury’s Educational Approaches to the War in Israel and Gaza,” outlining its commitment to supporting open dialogue. The college campus was also the site of a pro-Palestinian encampment that sprouted in April 2024.
The warning letters were the latest foray of President Donald Trump’s administration into campus politics. On Friday, Trump announced he was pulling about $400 million in federal funds from Columbia University, citing the school’s “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
Over the weekend, the Trump administration detained and attempted to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident who is married to an American. Khalil was a spokesperson for pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia’s campus during his time there as a graduate student, drawing the ire of pro-Israel groups.
Trump has declared Khalil’s detention “the first arrest of many to come.”
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