The Department of Justice on Monday announced a new initiative aimed at going after university campuses for antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
DOJ said the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative will use the False Claim Acts, a law which previously has rarely been used against universities, to investigate if schools knowingly violated civil rights law while receiving federal funding.
“Institutions that take federal money only to allow anti-Semitism and promote divisive DEI policies are putting their access to federal funds at risk,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate these violations of civil rights – inaction is not an option.”
Schools that are found to violate the False Claim Acts could receive hefty fines, according to a staff memo, but extreme cases could lead to criminal prosecution.
The initiative will be a combination of the department’s Civil Fraud Section and Civil Rights Division.
“America has watched a tidal wave of anti-Semitism sweep our universities and seen public institutions codify inherently divisive policies like DEI at an unprecedented rate,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“The days of using federal funds to further discrimination are over,” he added.
The Justice Department is encouraging anyone with “knowledge of discrimination” to file a complaint under the False Claims Act.
The initiative comes a week after the Justice Department announced it was investigating Harvard under the False Claims Act for its admission policies.
It is also part of the Trump administration’s larger campaign to pressure universities to eliminate DEI as it takes away billions of dollars in funding to institutions.
