Trump's Noble War on College Anti-Semitism

On Dec. 11, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order that has become a gamechanger in effectively combatting anti-Semitism on college campuses. The key part of the executive order reads as follows:

"Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq., prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. While Title VI does not cover discrimination based on religion, individuals who face discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin do not lose protection under Title VI for also being a member of a group that shares common religious practices. Discrimination against Jews may give rise to a Title VI violation when the discrimination is based on an individual’s race, color, or national origin."

In 2010, the State Department adopted an official definition of anti-Semitism that is very much in line with the recent executive order. Namely, the State Department defines anti-Semitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.

Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

More recently in 2016, this definition was also adopted by the 31 members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which includes the United States. Importantly, the State Department has also put out examples of what constitutes anti-Semitism under their definition, including:

• "Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, the state of Israel, or even for acts committed by non-Jews."
• "Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust."
• "Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interest of their own nations."
• "Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis"
• "Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation"
• "Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, and denying Israel the right to exist"

Along with President Trump, one of the main driving forces that enabled the stepped-up effort to fight anti-Semitism on college campuses is Ken Marcus.

As early as 2004, Marcus was Staff Director in the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within the U.S. Department of Education, which is the division responsible for enforcing Title VI.

In considering how to best fulfil the mission of his office, Marcus decided to draw upon a pair of Supreme Court cases: Saint Francis College v. Al-Khazraji, 481 U.S. 604 (1987), and Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb 481 U.S. 615 (1987).

These cases collectively shed light on when discrimination against an ethnic or religious minority can also be considered to be racial discrimination.

On May 18, 1987, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Plaintiff, Al-Khazraji, an Iraqi-born American citizen, was protected under Section 1981 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Al-Khazraji had been denied tenure because of his Islamic faith and his Arab ancestry.

On the same day, the Supreme Court ruled in Shaare Tefila Congregation v. Cobb that Jews were also eligible to make claims of discrimination under Section 1982 of the 1866 Civil Rights Act.

In 2010, the Office for Civil Rights similarly made clear that, "[w]hile Title VI does not cover discrimination based on religion, groups that face discrimination on the basis of actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics may not be denied protection under Title VI on the ground that they also share a common faith."

After Trump won the presidency, he appointed Ken Marcus to be the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights in 2018. He resigned on July 31, 2020.

After just two years, Marcus changed the office and his successor is continuing his work.

Whenever there is anti-Semitism on college campuses, this is the office that gets the call.

With over 500 lawyers and staffers, the Office of Civil Rights evaluate claims and then contacts colleges and universities to find a way to resolve the situation.

After the department tries to work out an accommodation for the claimant, they can also publicly sanction a college and withhold federal funding.

Not surprisingly, the risk of losing critical federal funding makes for quite the motivator.

Of course, executive orders can change from administration to administration.

Should the Democrats win the White House in 2020 or 2024, reporters need to ask candidates if they will keep this executive order in place to fight anti-Semitism on college campuses.

When it comes to ridding this scourge from university life, America should not tolerate taking a step backwards.

Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer whose work focuses on foreign affairs, national security and presidential history. His work has appeared in a range of publications, including The American Spectator, the Washington Times, and The American Conservative. For several years Robert worked closely with Peter Hannaford, a senior aide to Ronald Reagan, as the primary researcher on four books and numerous columns. Robert has also worked on multiple presidential, national and statewide campaigns, including as a field office staffer for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Due to his own Russian-Jewish heritage, Robert has a keen interest in the history of U.S.-Soviet relations. In 2017 he was the co-organizer of an effort that erected commemorative statue of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow. Robert graduated with a major in Political Science from the University at Buffalo, and received his Master's in Public Administration, with a focus in healthcare, from the State University of New York College at Brockport. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in Rochester, New York. Read Robert Zapesochny's Reports — More Here.