14-03-2025
Trump's federal warnings to USF and Tampa? They don't say much.
The Department of Education announced Monday that 60 colleges and universities could face 'potential enforcement actions' if they didn't step up to protect Jewish students on campus, 'including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and education opportunities.'
On that list of 60 institutions were the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa — both of which told the Tampa Bay Times they had not received the letters after the department made its announcement on Tuesday.
Despite the ominous warnings of enforcement actions, the letters themselves contain no concrete allegations, no specific changes the schools must make and no mention of the potential punishments if they don't.
USF is under investigation for alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the bases of race, color and national origin. But the school was informed of that complaint in February 2024, and has been fully cooperating with the review, which is ongoing, said spokesperson Althea Johnson.
'Importantly, in its communication with USF, the U.S. Department of Education has stated that opening an investigation in no way implies that a determination has been made on the merits of the complaint,' she added.
So why send a letter at all?
'The prior administration remained tepid, either reaching toothless resolution agreements with schools or allowing complaints to accumulate,' wrote Craig Trainor, the Department's Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights. 'I write to remind you of your legal obligations under Title IV of the Civil Rights Act.'
It's not unheard of for different administrations to focus on different areas of enforcement, said Robert Shibley, special council for campus advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
Under the Obama administration, the Department in 2011 sent a formal letter to federally funded institutions outlining its updated interpretation of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.
'The statistics on sexual violence are both deeply troubling and a call to action for the nation,' the department wrote. The 19-page letter, since rescinded under Trump, clearly communicated that this would be the department's priority, Shibley said.
'These kinds of shot-across-the-bow letters aren't new,' Shibley said. But the education department under former President Joe Biden had already communicated that antisemitic discrimination was a priority in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
'This letter is just turning up the volume and focusing the message on these 60 institutions,' Shibley said.
The incident that landed the University of Tampa on that list occurred in September 2023, roughly a month before the Oct. 7 attack, said spokesperson Eric Cardenas.
'The incident was resolved through the student conduct process,' he said. 'The university has fully complied with the (U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights) review to date.'
Florida's public universities, including USF, were quick to adopt stricter campus protest rules in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack.
The school now prohibits protests past 5 p.m. and asks for preapproval to host events on campus.
'You can say whatever you want about Israel, pro or con,' Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an April 2024 press conference. 'What you don't have a right to do is commandeer property. You don't have a right to harass individual students or faculty members.'
The state has also signaled support for Trump's executive order instructing immigration officials to deport student protesters who voiced criticism of Israel as the conflict in Gaza intensified.
'It is a privilege for foreign students to attend universities in Florida or any other state in the country,' said State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues. 'Those who break the law or pose a threat to the safety and security of U.S. citizens should be concerned about losing the privilege of being in America.'
The question of how to distinguish speech that is critical of Israel from speech that is antisemitic has always posed a problem in higher education, Shibley said.
'I sometimes question whether it's even possible,' he said.
But the Department of Education's letter did nothing to clarify that distinction, and unlike the Obama administration's 2011 letter on Title IX complaints, it failed to outline the department's expectation for enforcement.
'If 100 people are carrying signs one day it's a protest and protected, but what if you're person 101 and someone complains that now it's a hostile environment, do you have the same rights as the first 100 people?' Shibley said. 'When schools have to deal with this kind of uncertainty, this invisible threshold, the natural reaction is to just shut it all down.'
