University Hall at Ohio State University. Photo: OZinOH/Flickr

Federal scrutiny of antisemitism on American college campuses continues with the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announcing earlier this month that it is investigating Ohio State University for allegedly ignoring complaints of antisemitism in contravention of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

“Ohio State has never — and will never — tolerate discrimination or harassment of anyone based on their religious beliefs, nationality, or identity,” an OSU spokesperson told the school’s campus newspaper, The Lantern, in a statement addressing the investigation.

According to the paper, the school has been plagued with antisemitic incidents since Hamas’ massacre across Israel on Oct. 7, which triggered a global wave of antisemitism. Just over ten days after the terror onslaught, a male OSU student spit on another student buying a bracelet that said, “I stand with Israel.” The next month, two female students were let into the campus Hillel, where they screamed “f*** you” and “free Palestine,” and two men assaulted students, suspecting that they were Jewish. One of the students, The Lantern added, was hospitalized. In Dec., fraternity members of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), a predominantly Jewish Greek Life organization, reported that a small group of people screaming “Jewish bastards” pelted bottles at their house.

Earlier this week, OCR opened a formal investigation of Northwestern University to determine whether it ignored allegations of antisemitic discrimination and harassment after Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, because the students who lodged them are Jewish.

The investigation followed a complaint filed by Campus Reform editor-in-chief, Zachary Marschall, who cited, among other things, Northwestern’s alleged nonresponse to the projection of a Palestinian flag onto a school building, an academic program’s defending Hamas as a “political group,” and severe maltreatment of Jewish students, as cause to review the school’s compliance with Title VI, which forbids discrimination based on race and national origin.

Dozens of other universities, including Tulane University, University of Pennsylvania, George Mason University, Northwestern University, and American University, are being investigated for allegedly neglecting to deter, punish, or condemn disturbing acts of antisemitism.

US college campuses have experienced an alarming spike in antisemitic incidents — including demonstrations calling for Israel’s destruction and the intimidation and harassment of Jewish students— since Oct. 7, 2023. In a two month span, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 470 antisemitic incidents on college campuses alone. During that same period, antisemitic incidents across the US skyrocketed by 323 percent compared to the prior year.

The campus climate has, in many instances, pushed Jewish identity underground. More than one in three Jewish college students reporting feeling the need to hide their Jewish identity on campus after Oct. 7, according to a new survey conducted by Hillel International. A striking 37 percent of Jewish students said they have needed to hide their Jewish identity and 35 percent of respondents said there have been acts of hate or violence against Jews on their campus. A majority of those surveyed said they were unsatisfied with their university’s response to those incidents.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.