Thirty-eight present and former Jewish faculty at IU sent a letter to administration urging them to maintain freedom of speech on campus after the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights sent a letter threatening IU’s funding if it fails to stop antisemitism.
“And we—unlike Gov. Braun or Education Secretary Linda McMahon—have known antisemitism firsthand,” the letter stated. “But we also know that our identities, both as Jewish Americans and as public university employees, require respect for free speech and tolerance of opposing viewpoints.”
A press release from the education department said it sent letters to 60 universities under investigation, which will be at risk of losing the “privilege” of “enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers” if they do not uphold Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination.
On Jan. 29, President Donald Trump issued the Executive Order, “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” to combat antisemitism following the start of the Israel-Hamas War in October 2023.
The letter sent Monday was addressed to President Pamela Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav and Board of Trustees Chair Quinn Buckner. The professors said the letter seeks to reminds IU administration of the university’s history of strict adherence to anti-discrimination efforts and that one “edict” will not protect the expanse of Jewish students and their varied political opinions.
In a press release announcing the letter from faculty, IU professor Eric Sandweiss, who signed the letter, said the real goal of the threats from the U.S. Department of Education are to lessen the role universities have in acting as “sites of open debate and, sometimes, dissent.” He noted IU would receive support from its Jewish community if it is “prepared to stand up to these kinds of threats.”
The faculty letter emphasized the importance of striving to protect all students and warned, “censoring legal expression—even in the name of bringing us together—only tears us apart.”
A university spokesperson did not respond to request for comment by time of publication.
