Press Releases

Today, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) applauded the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) plan to investigate workplace antisemitism at the University of California (UC). The announcement comes after the Committee exposed antisemitic discrimination festering in the workplace, notably in the university setting, including at UC. 
 
DOJ will examine if UC violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and engaged in employment discrimination based on race, religion, and national origin against its professors, staff, and other employees. 
 
“Over the past two years, we’ve seen a rise in antisemitic threats and harassment on college campuses,” said Chairman Walberg. “The Committee uncovered that professors and staff are also victims of these attacks and often face a toxic workplace because of antisemitism. Colleges and universities need to provide a safe work environment for their Jewish faculty or face the consequences of the law. I am grateful the Jewish community finally has an ally in the oval office, but I am saddened that such action is needed.”
 
Background
 
In June 2024, the Committee on Education and Workforce held a subcommittee hearing to examine workplace antisemitism in postsecondary education. In response to Chairman Walberg’s line of questioning, Mr. Mark Rienzi, President and CEO, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said: “They are violating Federal civil rights law when they allow the Jewish employees to have to endure day after day going to a work—going to a workplace where people are saying, ‘Death to the Jews. Death to Israel.’ You know, ‘Beat that F’ing Jew,’ which was a common refrain on UCLA’s campus. Employers should not allow that to continue. They have an affirmative obligation to not have their employees thrust into a hostile work environment.”

###