Around twelve students at New York University (NYU) have recently faced a one-year suspension for advocating divestment from Israel amid a period where President Donald Trump’s firm stance on higher education policies is becoming more prominent.
Professor William Jacobson from Cornell University emphasized the importance of consistently enforcing rules within educational institutions, noting that NYU’s actions reflect the need for fair and equal treatment of all students. Jacobson pointed out that some anti-Israel protesters on college campuses tend to resist following established regulations and prefer not to abide by the same guidelines as others. Such behavior includes disrupting academic activities in places like the library or obstructing the movement of people across campus.
“And as soon as you enforce the rules that everybody else needs to live by, they start playing victim,” he said.
The recent agreements made between various universities and the Department of Education under President Biden’s administration have sparked criticism from those who feel that these institutions are not being held accountable for their actions.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said the settlements are “toothless” and fail to hold colleges accountable for permitting antisemitism. In a statement, he said the Trump administration should “examine these agreements and explore options to impose real consequences on schools.”
Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
Flashback: Trump on campus protests
Trump has harshly criticized institutions for allowing such protests, promising to halt unruly protests.
“Colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda, or they will lose their accreditation and federal support,” Trump previously said at a campaign event in September, according to Reuters.
In May, Trump hinted at deporting unrelenting student protesters, telling The Washington Post: “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave.”
On Wednesday, The New York Post reported that Trump was expected to sign an executive order instructing all federal agencies to identify civil and criminal authorities available to combat antisemitism.
The order would require agency and department heads to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days and outline plans for the Department of Justice to investigate pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, the Post reported.
The executive order also calls for universities to deport student protesters, who were involved in the widespread protests following the Oct. 7 attacks, who are in the U.S. on student visas.
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greet President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump as they arrive at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025, before departing for the US Capitol where Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US President. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2019, during his first term, Trump notably signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to “consider” the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when investigating Title VI cases.
According to the IHRA definition, certain criticisms of Israel, such as “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” are considered antisemitic.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the University of Washington, Rutgers, the University of Cincinnati, Brown University and the University of Maryland for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
