Anti-Semitism and free speech on college campuses

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week targeting anti-Semitism on college campuses, drawing praise from some and fear from others that it may lead to a silencing of free speech.

“This is our message to universities: If you want to accept the tremendous amount of federal dollars that you get every year, you must reject anti-Semitism,” the president said. “It’s very simple.”

College campuses are dealing with a recent wave of anti-Semitic incidents, including verbal assaults and graffiti at Syracuse University last month that led to several student suspensions, the temporary shutdown of a fraternity, and at least one arrest.

Trump ordered the U.S. Department of Education to interpret Title VI of the Civil Rights Act—which bars discrimination at colleges and universities based on race, color, and national origin but not religion—to include anti-Semitic discrimination. The executive action directs the department to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism when evaluating complaints under Title VI. That definition includes acts that target a Jew’s national identity and could also cover comments or actions directed against Israel as a nation.

Debates about the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement have roiled college campuses in recent years. Last year, 60 Jewish or pro-Israel groups asked the University of Michigan to fire a professor who refused to write a letter of recommendation for a student who wanted to study in Israel. The university disciplined him. A controversy like that could put a college’s federal funding at risk under Trump’s new executive order.

Some major Jewish American groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, praised the action. The chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition, former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, called it “a truly historic and important moment for Jewish Americans.”

Critics complained that it could have an adverse effect on campus free speech since it forces college administrators to make subjective determinations on whether speech is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or if it has crossed a line and becomes harassment.

“One of the pitfalls is that it will open the floodgates for all other groups to try and ask to have biases against them specifically defined by the government,” said Joe Cohn, legislative and policy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. He said the order seems to contradict an earlier executive order by Trump that encouraged wider protection for free speech on college campuses.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America called the move a “political stunt” rather than a meaningful action to address rising anti-Semitism, and the American Civil Liberties Union warned it would pursue legal action if the order undermines free speech in practice.

The Constitution protects even vile speech, Cohn said, arguing that centuries of legal precedent illustrate that the government has no business favoring some speech over others, no matter how objectionable: “The last thing you want to have is the government deciding to silence critics on your behalf.”