The Trump Administration is taking two federal actions against all California State University campuses for antisemitism and racial discrimination allegations.

The first complaint originated from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has started a system-wide questioning of staff and faculty about antisemitism allegations and any related experiences. The second arises from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, which said racial discrimination has been found in the nonprofit, “PhD Project,” which works to diversify business education and corporate work environments.

In response, CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia emailed all 23 universities, neither accepting nor denying the allegations, but stating that the CSU is cooperating with the federal actions. Garcia stated that the CSU works to sustain an unconditionally welcoming environment for both education and work.

“In strict accordance with our mission, the CSU does not discriminate against or give preference to any individual or group based on race, ethnicity, nationality, shared ancestry, religion or any other protected status,” Garcia said. “This includes our hiring practices: The CSU is firmly committed to hiring the most qualified individuals based on experience and expertise alone, ensuring that no one is included, excluded, advantaged or disadvantaged because of a protected characteristic.”

Cal State Los Angeles has since been subpoenaed by the EEOC after agreeing to give personal phone and email information of all employees, putting the privacy of many at risk.

According to a statement from California Faculty Association President Margarita Berta-Ávila, “CFA is demanding a copy of the subpoena and asking that CSULA not comply with the subpoena until CFA has had a chance to review it and formulate a response.”

On behalf of the CFA, Berta-Ávila said if CSU individuals are contacted by federal agencies, they should wait and speak with their CFA chapter representative or a legal advisor.

At the local level, SF Hillel, the citywide and San Francisco State University campus-based Jewish community, believes that SFSU is a prime example for how schools should support Jewish students. The organization’s executive director, Roger Feigelson, praised SFSU’s progress and said the focus shouldn’t be on a university’s removal of antisemitism but instead on how it responds.

“In just a few years, SFSU has gone from being a national bellwether of antisemitism on college campuses to a national role model in addressing it,” Feigelson said.

Feigelson said SFSU President Lynn Mahoney and the organization have grown a partnership that works together to tackle antisemitic-related issues.

“Antisemitic incidents at SFSU have been few and far between lately, and SF Hillel and the administration have a very strong partnership in managing issues as they come up,” Feigelson said. “From President Mahoney down through the administration, we are in frequent contact and have regular meetings to review how the university is supporting Jewish students.”

At the time of publication, Feigelson said that there has been no federal outreach to gain SF Hillel’s perspective on the matter, but said doing so is crucial to “get an accurate perspective on the strength and commitment of the university’s partnership with Hillel and our Jewish students. That would be critical for any serious investigation.”

However, the federal government’s actions are not always seen as a protection against racism and antisemitism, but a tactic to stop free speech, especially when looking at previous protests that took over a majority of CSU campuses.

In a statement, Jewish Voice for Peace at SFSU said they do not want the Trump administration to speak for them, but encourage the CSU system to resist compliance with the federal government in order to protect information of students and staff.

“We are disgusted, but not surprised by the investigations being conducted by the Trump administration under the guise of ‘fighting antisemitism,’” the organization said. “We have seen the ways that these investigations have been used to attack trans students, international students and POC on campuses like Columbia and Brown, and our campus would be no exception to those attacks.”

Jack, an SFSU political science student who declined to provide a full name, said that his first reaction to the CSU allegations was that it would be used to end future pro-Palestinian protests.

“I know that there is somewhat a presence of antisemitism, but I felt that this was a reaction not to the antisemitic protests but a reaction to the pro-Palestinian protests,” Jack said. “I believe that it is here to suppress free speech and students’ ability to protest and mobilize.”

The SFSU CFA chapter also sent out a “Letter of Support for Faculty Facing Repression,” which calls for action against the EEOC and further documents the repercussions of faculty members who have expressed their support for Palestine and other causes the CSU has involved itself with since Spring 2024. 

The chapter calls the matter “a direct assault on academic and political freedom” and urges faculty members to oppose the AB 715 bill that prohibits governing boards of school districts and boards of education “the adoption or approval of the use of any professional development materials if the use of the material would subject a pupil to unlawful discrimination, as specified.”

“The passage of this bill would … further instrumentalize state education away from the public good and towards political and historical censorship under the auspices of a broader seismic attack on the university as we know it,” the letter said.