The University of Minnesota, which the Ministry of Justice of President Trump examines the handling of anti -Semitism on campus, was mainly excluded on Friday by the issuance of official statements on “issues of public concern or public interest”.
Politics, in work for months, was not a direct response to the announcement of the Trump February administration that it would investigate whether Minnesota and nine other universities failed to protect Jewish students and the school from discrimination.
However, the vote on Friday by the Board of Directors of the Regents, however, fits into the fight by universities to downplay the accusations that have supported or degrade anti -Semitic behavior or political activity.
Schools have undergone strong democratic criticism of their answers to protests about the Gaza war. Campuses have seen bitter discussions about the definition of anti -Semitism and thresholds about when political expression is unbearable or discreet, with universities often seeking a balance between the freedom of speech and avoidance.
According to the new Minnesota policy, university statements – including those from departments such as colleges and departments – will be banned on public issues unless the President determines that the matter has “real or possible influence on the mission and businesses of the University”.
The University Senate, which includes students, faculty members and other employees, opposed the plan and in early January, a university team had prompted a closer approach. Critics have questioned whether politics violates the first amendment and claimed to be giving excessive power to the Minnesota president.
But during a rugged meeting on Friday in Minneapolis – the meeting went on a recess twice due to protesters – the regions voted 9 to 3 to approve politics.
“The university is not, and it should not be, in the operations of taking up positions in these critical and controversial issues of public concern,” said Janie S. Mayeron, chairman of the Board of Directors. “People can do this. The university, its leaders and units should not.”
Another regent, Robyn J. Gulley, said he had received hundreds of messages before Friday’s vote, with feedback largely opposed to the proposal.
“The first amendment protects not only freedom of speech, but the right to union,” Ms Gulley said before voting against the proposal. “There is probably nowhere in the world that this is more important than in universities, where it is not only the right, but the obligation of students, school, staff to talk” about research and expertise.
The concept of “institutional neutrality” is not unique to Minnesota, where the new policy will cover five campuses, including the flagship in Minneapolis. Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, at least 140 colleges have adopted such policies, according to a report published Tuesday by Heterodox Academy, a non -profit organization that criticizes progressing in campuses.
Prior to the attack, the report said, only eight schools had neutrality policies.
In recent weeks, Minnesota have put new pressure on the university between schools that researchers at the Ministry of Justice’s anti -Semitism said they would visit to weigh “if corrective actions are justified”.
The department has not been analyzed because Minnesota made its list. Although Richard W. Painter, a professor of the Minnesota law, who was the leading White House lawyer for part of George W. Bush’s presidency, told the Ministry of Education in 2023 about possible anti -Semitism at the university, he has assumed that the interest of the Ministry may be in the interest of the Ministry.
Tim Walz, who was the Democratic candidate for the vice president of last year’s elections, is the commander of Minnesota and the district of representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who has been a steady critic of Mr Trump and Israel, includes the main campus.
Minnesota said in a statement that he was “sure of our approach to the fight against hatred and prejudice in our campus and we will always fully work together with any review related to these issues”.
In addition to Minnesota, the Ministry of Justice is considering the University of Columbia. George Washington University. University of Harvard. Johns Hopkins University. University of New York. Northwestern University? The University of California, Los Angeles. The University of California, Berkeley. and the University of Southern California.
But some doubts about Minnesota, who supported a protest camp last spring, precedes Mr Trump’s return to power.
In December 2023, for example, Mr Painter and former Regent, Michael D. Hsu, complained to the Department of Education that the College of Liberal Arts had allowed the departments to use official websites for statements criticized by Israel.
A website Mr. HSU and Mr Painter referred – in a statement from the School of Gender, Women and Sexual Studies – approved the boycott movement, divestment and sanctions and called for “disassembly of the Israeli apartheid system”. (Following the publication of the statement, a disclaimer was added to note that “does not reflect the position of the University of Minnesota”)
It was not clear how Friday’s vote would facilitate Washington’s skepticism for Minnesota. Some other universities that have recently embraced the institutional neutrality have ended up being investigated by Trump’s administration, such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern and South California.
Crown They contributed reports.
