ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – If Michigan’s colleges and universities thought they could keep looking the other way while antisemitic protests and harassment ran rampant, they just got a wake-up call straight from the White House.

In one of President Donald J. Trump’s latest executive orders called “Additional Measures to combat Anti-Semitism”, signed on January 29th, he instructs the Department of Justice and the attorney general to take immediate action in prosecuting antisemitic crimes, including vandalism and intimidation, while also investigating anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities. Additionally, it emphasizes the idea of revoking student visas and deporting international students found to have sympathies for Hamas.

Trump sets his sights on anti-semitic discrimination.

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The Department of Justice and the Department of Education now have a new assignment: compiling a list of all the ongoing lawsuits and complaints against institutions accused of allowing antisemitic discrimination to fester. If the Attorney General decides to take action, expect Michigan’s public universities and others around the country – many of which have hosted pro-Palestinian demonstrations that blurred the line into open hostility against Jewish students – to be at the center of legal firestorms.

In Trump’s latest executive order, he reaffirms a past 2019 order to fight antisemitism and directs additional measures to do so in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel in October of 2023. After the attacks, Trump says that Jewish students have “faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination; denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms; and intimidation, harassment and physical threats and assault.”

Foreign student crackdown? DHS eyes the Visa pipeline.

Perhaps the most attention-grabbing part of Trump’s order is the call for universities to start monitoring “alien students and staff” for any involvement in antisemitic activities that could make them inadmissible under immigration law. Translation? The Department of Homeland Security might soon be knocking on doors in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, and beyond, especially if foreign students or faculty are found stirring up hostility on campus.

The road ahead.

Back in September at a virtual address to Jewish donors, Trump had said, “Colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support. No money will go to them if they don’t.”

Because many colleges and universities anticipated a more forceful crackdown on antisemitism by the incoming president, they started settling cases with federal civil rights investigators in the weeks before Trump’s inauguration, according to an AP report.

However, according to that report, Michigan Republican Congressman Tim Walberg, 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.”

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Walberg added that one of his committee’s priorities would be to call out the “woke higher education institutions – especially those that allow antisemitism to run rampant.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly thanked President Trump for the executive order.

Campus crackdown.

The AP report states that more than 100 colleges and school districts are still under investigation for alleged antisemitism or Islamophobia following Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel. These investigations stem from complaints that institutions violated Title VI, which prohibits discrimination or harassment based on race, color, or national origin at federally funded colleges and universities.

The Education Department resolves most civil rights investigations through voluntary agreements with schools. If no settlement is reached, the agency can escalate the case to the Justice Department or, in rare instances, move to revoke the school’s federal funding – a drastic measure seldom enforced, but one that appears to be more likely under Trump’s leadership.

Changing winds: U of M organization suspended.

According to the Michigan Daily website, The University of Michigan has suspended the student organization Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) for up to two years, effectively revoking its recognition on campus. This decision follows a formal complaint filed by the university in November 2024, alleging that SAFE violated the U-M Standards of Conduct in May and August 2024. The complaint pointed to different events they participated in including their protest outside of Regent Sarah Hubbard’s home.

The suspension means that SAFE will lose access to university resources and the ability to participate in campus events as a recognized student organization during the two-year period. SAFE posted on Instagram about the suspension, “Suspending SAFE, a 20+ year old legacy organization, and the only student organization dedicated to the struggle for Palestinian liberation, is a clear continuation of admin’s politically-motivated attempts to erase Palestine from our campus.”

SAFE’s suspension highlights the growing tensions on college campuses over the boundaries between political activism and violations of university policies. As universities grapple with how to respond to student-led demonstrations, the broader implications extend beyond disciplinary actions. Michigan’s universities may soon face their toughest test yet if campus antisemitic protests pop up again this year. With Trump’s executive order turning up the heat, schools that have tolerated antisemitic harassment under the guise of political activism in the past could find themselves in legal and financial jeopardy. Whether they choose to clean house or dig in their heels, one thing is clear – business as usual is no longer an option.