By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The University of California, Berkeley has provided information on 160 faculty members and students to President Donald Trump’s administration as part of a federal investigation into alleged antisemitic incidents, amid a broader 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.”
Trump has threatened federal funding cuts for universities over pro-Palestinian student protests. The government alleges universities allowed antisemitism during the protests.
Pro-Palestinian protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates their criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism 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. 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 university’s president added.
Local media earlier reported that the names of the 160 students, faculty and staff at UC Berkeley were sent to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and affected members of the campus were notified by the educational institution. The government had no immediate comment.
Rights advocates have noted a rise in antisemitism, anti-Arab bias and Islamophobia due to conflict in the Middle East. The Trump administration has not announced equivalent probes into Islamophobia.
The government has settled its investigations with Columbia University, which agreed to pay more than $220 million, and Brown University, which said it will pay $50 million. Both accepted certain government demands. Settlement talks with Harvard University are ongoing.
The government has also faced some judicial roadblocks in its drive to freeze federal funding.
The Trump administration had proposed to settle its probe into the University of California, Los Angeles – another UC campus – through a $1 billion payment from the university. California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed that offer, calling it an extortion attempt.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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