Latest news with #JonYates
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Feds launch another investigation over alleged antisemitism at Northwestern
A second federal agency is investigating Northwestern University for alleged antisemitism. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday its Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into a 'prestigious university in the midwestern United States' for allegedly violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal funds. The probe comes three months after the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation of Northwestern and four other universities for 'widespread antisemitic harassment.' While HHS' news release didn't specifically name Northwestern, Jon Yates, a university spokesperson, confirmed to the Pioneer Press that it is the target. HHS instigated the probe following a complaint to the department's Office for Civil Rights, as stated in a news release. HHS did not respond to a request for comment on specifics of the complaint, including who filed it and what particular incident the alleged discrimination against Jewish students took place. 'The investigation will examine whether the University complied with its obligations under Title VI not to discriminate against Jewish students, such that it denied them an educational opportunity or benefit,' HHS said in a news release. 'This action demonstrates the Administration's commitment to address 'anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools… (to address) unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence,' as expressed in President Trump's Executive Orders,' the release said Last May, Northwestern's President Michael Schill was grilled by congressional lawmakers at a hearing about the rise of antisemitism on campus. HHS' probe into Northwestern is the second of its kind during President Donald Trump's second term in office. In April, HHS and the Department of Education launched a Title VI investigation into Harvard University and Harvard Law Review over reports of race-based discrimination in the journal's operations. Northwestern students, and students from scores of colleges and universities across the country, launched massive protests against their universities following Israel's war against Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Students demanded that their universities cease their investments in companies that do business with Israel. In the Chicago area, students set up tented encampments on their university's main quads. Northwestern's encampment was taken down voluntarily by students after an agreement between students and faculty, where the university yielded to some demands to fund scholarships for Palestinian students and to hire Palestinian faculty members. 'There is no place for antisemitism at Northwestern, and the steps we have taken since last summer have dramatically improved the safety of our Jewish students,' Yates said in a statement. 'As detailed in a recent progress report on Northwestern's efforts to combat antisemitism, the University strengthened its Student Code of Conduct and other University-wide policies over the summer and has enforced these policies during this academic year,' Yates said. 'We have also instituted and begun mandatory yearly antisemitism trainings for faculty, staff and students and have adapted the IHRA definition of antisemitism into our conduct process. These steps have had an impact — there has been a significant decrease in reports of discrimination or harassment based on antisemitism or shared Jewish ancestry in the current academic year.' Besides Northwestern, the Department of Education's ongoing investigations of Jewish harassment on college campuses includes Columbia University, Portland State University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota.
Chicago Tribune
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Feds investigate Northwestern University over alleged Jewish discrimination
A second federal agency is investigating Northwestern University for alleged antisemitism. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday its Office for Civil Rights launched an investigation into a 'prestigious university in the midwestern United States' for allegedly violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal funds. The probe comes three months after the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation of Northwestern and four other universities for 'widespread antisemitic harassment.' While HHS's news release didn't specifically name Northwestern, Jon Yates, the university's vice president of global marketing and communications, confirmed to the Pioneer Press that it is the target. HHS instigated the probe following a complaint to the department's Office of Civil Rights, as stated in a news release. HHS did not respond to an immediate request for comment on specifics of the complaint, including who filed it and what particular incident the alleged discrimination against Jewish students took place. 'The investigation will examine whether the University complied with its obligations under Title VI not to discriminate against Jewish students, such that it denied them an educational opportunity or benefit,' HHS said in a news release. 'This action demonstrates the Administration's commitment to address 'anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools… [to address] unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence,' as expressed in President Trump's Executive Orders,' the release said Last May, Northwestern's President Michael Schill was grilled by Congressional lawmakers at a hearing about the rise of antisemitism on campus. HHS's probe into Northwestern is the second of its kind during President Donald Trump's second term in office. In April, HHS and the Department of Education launched a Title VI investigation into Harvard University and Harvard Law Review over reports of race-based discrimination in the journal's operations. Northwestern students, and students from scores of colleges and universities across the country, formed massive protests against their universities following Israel's war against Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Students demanded that their universities cease their investments in companies that do business with Israel. In the Chicago area, students set up tented encampments at their university's grassy campus's main quads. Northwestern's encampment was taken down voluntarily by students after an agreement between students and faculty, where the university yielded to some demands to fund scholarships for Palestinian students and to hire Palestinian faculty members. 'There is no place for antisemitism at Northwestern, and the steps we have taken since last summer have dramatically improved the safety of our Jewish students,' Yates said in a statement provided. 'As detailed in a recent progress report on Northwestern's efforts to combat antisemitism, the University strengthened its Student Code of Conduct and other University-wide policies over the summer and has enforced these policies during this academic year,' Yates said. 'We have also instituted and begun mandatory yearly antisemitism trainings for faculty, staff and students and have adapted the IHRA definition of antisemitism into our conduct process. These steps have had an impact – there has been a significant decrease in reports of discrimination or harassment based on antisemitism or shared Jewish ancestry in the current academic year.' Besides Northwestern, the Department of Education's ongoing investigations of Jewish harassment on college campuses includes Columbia University, Portland State, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota.
Telegraph
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Every school could appoint a teacher to tackle violence against girls
Every school could appoint a teacher to tackle violence against girls under plans being considered by ministers. The move follows research by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) which found one in eight (13 per cent) of 4,700 secondary teachers surveyed had reported a child sexually assaulting another pupil at their school in the past term. That equates to just over 3,000 of the 233,000 teachers in secondary schools in England and Wales. The charity, which was set up with a £200 million endowment from the Home Office, recommended that every school should appoint a lead teacher to tackle violence against women and girls. It said evidence showed that school initiatives to combat sexual violence – such as lessons, awareness campaigns and training – could reduce dating and relationship violence by an average of 17 per cent. A government source indicated the proposal was being considered ahead of Labour publishing its strategy on violence against women and girls this summer. Labour has pledged to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. It comes amid growing concern about the scale of sexual violence and misogyny among teenagers, which academics have blamed on the influence of social media and figures such as Andrew Tate. It was highlighted in the Netflix drama Adolescence which portrayed a 13-year-old boy killing a classmate after being radicalised by misogyny online. Previous research by the YEF, based on 10,000 teenagers, found nearly half (49 per cent) of 13- 17-year-olds in a romantic relationship that year experienced violent or controlling behaviour – equivalent to 464,345 children in England and Wales, or one in eight teenagers. Jon Yates, chief executive of the YEF, said: 'Netflix's Adolescence has shone a much-needed spotlight on the toxic influences boys are growing up with. It's time to act. 'Research shows that lessons on healthy relationships can make a real difference. The Labour government has the opportunity to make a bold statement that violence against women and girls will not be tolerated. 'Over the past decade, schools have led the charge in breaking down the stigma around mental health and providing crucial support for young people. With the right resources, training and leadership, they can have a similar transformative impact in tackling violence against women and girls.' Yet the latest research, published on Thursday, found many teachers felt ill-equipped to tackle the problem. The surveys of up to 6,000 staff by TeacherTapp, suggested more than half (55 per cent) of secondary school teachers said they lacked the confidence or expertise to deliver personal, social and health education (PSHE) to children. Nearly a third (31 per cent) of secondary teachers who taught PSHE had never received training to deliver these subjects while 45 per cent said they lacked confidence in teaching how to intervene if someone witnessed a sexual assault The charity urged the Government to invest £1 million to pilot the creation of lead teachers to tackle violence against women and girls across 50 schools and colleges. They would be responsible for drawing up school-wide strategies, improving PHSE lessons, bringing in specialist external providers and training other staff members. The Government should then be prepared to invest £35 million in England and £2 million in Wales to scale up the initiative if shown to be successful.
Boston Globe
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
About $1.8 billion in federal money for Cornell and Northwestern is frozen, the White House says
Advertisement Last month, the Education Department sent letters to more than 60 universities, including Cornell in New York and Northwestern in Illinois warning of 'potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations' under federal law to 'protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The administration has argued that universities allowed alleged antisemitism to go unchecked at campus protests last year against the Israel-Hamas war; the schools deny it. In a statement, Cornell said that it had received more than 75 stop work orders from the Defense Department related to research 'profoundly significant to American national defense, cybersecurity, and health' but that it had not otherwise received any information confirming $1 billion in frozen grants. 'We are actively seeking information from federal officials to learn more about the basis for these decisions,' said the statement from Michael I. Kotlikoff, the university president, and other top school officials. Advertisement Northwestern's leaders said in a message to campus that they had not received any official notification from Washington. The school has fully cooperated with investigations by both the Education Department and Congress, university spokesperson Jon Yates said. 'Federal funds that Northwestern receives drive innovative and life-saving research, like the recent development by Northwestern researchers of the world's smallest pacemaker, and research fueling the fight against Alzheimer's disease,' Yates said. 'This type of research is now at jeopardy.' The freezes have jeopardized science and research without advancing the goal of creating campuses free of antisemitism, said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education. 'This was wrong last week, it is wrong this week, and it will be wrong next week,' he said. A spokesperson for the Education Department did not respond to a request for comment. Officials have already singled out Columbia University, making an example of it by withholding $400 million in federal funds. Supporters of Israel and the administration officials have framed the protests at Columbia and other schools as antisemitic and 'pro-Hamas,' but people involved in the demonstrations reject that characterization. They say advocating for Palestinian human rights and territorial claims, or criticizing Israeli military action, is not antisemitic. As a condition for restoring Columbia's money, as well as billions more in future grants, the administration demanded major changes in university policy. Columbia agreed to adopt a new definition of antisemitism and expand 'intellectual diversity' by staffing up its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, among other things. The New York school's acquiescence, in part to salvage ongoing research projects at its labs and medical center, has been criticized by some faculty and free speech groups as capitulating to an intrusion on academic freedom. Advertisement The administration has made similar demands of Harvard University as a condition for receiving almost $9 billion in grants and contracts. It also has paused $510 million in grants and contracts for Brown and dozens of research grants at Princeton. Mumphrey reported from Phoenix and Haigh from Hartford, Connecticut.
Telegraph
14-02-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Giving children summer jobs cuts violent crime by a third, research finds
Giving children summer jobs reduces violent crime by more than a third, research by a government-funded charity has found. The study by the Youth Endowment Fund (Yef) found targeted summer jobs reduced violence by 36 per cent by diverting or distracting children who might have otherwise fallen into crime. Overall, crime was cut by 17 per cent as a result of the employment schemes. The research, based on 68 studies evaluating summer job programmes, showed they continued to have an effect even after children finished their jobs, with a reduction in violence-related arrests of 9 per cent over three years. Even five years after their jobs, there was still a 4 per cent reduction in arrests or convictions. The children were also more likely to attend and complete higher education, although there were small increases in arrests or convictions for drug and property-related offences. About 1,500 work placements The study has formed the basis for a government-backed expansion of US-style summer jobs programmes, which will offer children and young people up to the age of 20 about 1,500 work placements in England and Wales. It will expand in summer 2025 to include South Wales, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Sheffield and Doncaster. In 2024, 428 young people from Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and London participated with support from employers including Timpson, the shoe repair and key-cutting company founded by the family of Lord Timpson, the prison minister, Burger King and Veolia. The scheme was backed by £1.5 million in government funds. The average cost of summer employment programmes per participant is £4,250, and of this the average salary to the young person is around £2,000. Jon Yates, the chief executive of the Yef, said: 'Young people need opportunities, and summer employment programmes provide just that. They offer an important first step on the career ladder, add valuable experience to CVs and put money in young people's pockets. 'While the evidence is limited, programmes in the US appear to be highly effective at reducing violence over the summer months. We want to find out if such programmes can make the same positive difference here.'
