Inside the powerful task force spearheading Trump’s assault on colleges, DEI
The Washington Post reports that, while the White House has linked campus protests over Israel and Palestine, as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, to antisemitism, critics find clear evidence instead of a broader campaign of misinformation targeting perceived progressive values in higher education. Illustration by José L. Soto/The Washington Post; Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post; Sarah Yenesel/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock; Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images; iStock
The Washington Post
In 2021, future vice president JD Vance delivered a speech titled “The Universities Are the Enemy.” A few years later, during his campaign, Donald Trump called college leaders “Marxist maniacs.”
Now their administration is using the full force of the federal government to investigate long-standing conservative complaints about universities, making sweeping demands and cutting billions of dollars in federal funding as it works to bring campuses to heel.
The most powerful vehicle for the onslaught has been the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism.
The administration established the task force in February to counter what it describes as widespread failure by universities to protect Jewish students since the start of campus protests against the Israel-Gaza war. In reality, many of the task force’s unprecedented demands and punishments have nothing to do with antisemitism. Instead, they seek hiring and programming changes to strip long-standing conservative targets including DEI and a liberal worldview from higher education.
ADDITIONAL NEWS FROM THE INTEGRITY PROJECT
