UC Berkeley shares information on dozens of students, staff with Trump administration

WASHINGTON – The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) said on Sept 12 it has provided information on 160 faculty members and students to President Donald Trump's administration as

part of a federal investigation

into “alleged incidents of anti-Semitism”, amid a broader government crackdown against educational institutions.

The office of the president of the University of California said the institution is subject to oversight by federal and state agencies, and that its campuses like UC Berkeley “routinely receive document requests in connection with government audits, compliance reviews, or investigations”.

Mr Trump has threatened federal funding cuts for universities over pro-Palestinian student protests. The US government alleges universities allowed anti-Semitism during the protests.

Pro-Palestinian protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the US government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with anti-Semitism and their advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.

Experts have raised free speech, due process and academic freedom concerns over the Republican president’s threats. Mr Trump has also attempted to deport foreign pro-Palestinian student protesters but has faced legal hurdles.

“UC is committed to protecting the privacy of our students, faculty, and staff to the greatest extent possible, while fulfilling its legal obligations,” a spokesperson of the office of the UC president added.

UC Berkeley said the names of the 160 students, faculty and staff were sent to the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and affected members of the campus were notified by the institution last week.

It added that the US Department of Education launched an investigation several months ago into its handling of complaints related to “alleged incidents of anti-Semitism” and demanded documentation.

“Numerous documents were provided over recent months to OCR, including the names of individuals in those reports,” it added.

The US government had no immediate comment.

The US government in July settled its investigations with Columbia University, which

agreed to pay more than US$220 million (S$282 million),

and Brown University, which said it will pay US$50 million. Both accepted certain government demands. Settlement talks with Harvard University are ongoing.

The Trump administration has also faced some judicial roadblocks in its drive to freeze federal funding.

The US government had proposed to settle its probe into the University of California, Los Angeles – another UC campus – through a US$1 billion payment from the university. California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed that offer, calling it an extortion attempt.

Rights advocates have noted a rise in anti-Semitism, anti-Arab bias and Islamophobia due to conflict in the Middle East. The Trump administration has not announced equivalent probes into Islamophobia. REUTERS