Cardona Expresses Deep Concern over Appalling Antisemitic Incidents on Campus

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday said he was “appalled” by antisemitic harassment on college campuses and pledged to protect Jewish students, Politico reported.

During a Thursday roundtable at Towson University, Cardona told a group of Jewish students that he was “horrified” about what he was hearing across the country and wanted to extend his support.

“The Department of Education is going to do everything we can to make sure you’re safe on campus and that you get to celebrate the beauty of your culture without any fear,” Cardona insisted.

The discussion, a part of the Biden administration’s antisemitism awareness campaign, included students from Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College, the University of Maryland, and Towson.

In response, Jewish students called on the department to release guidance pushing college leaders to disavow antisemitism on campuses, criticizing their campus leadership’s statements for being “neutral” on the incidents.

Cardona pledged that the department was working on sending out a guidance letter “very soon” to college leaders with “very clear language around how we stand against this.”

The letter comes in the wake of massive fallout from protesting students and faculty who have blamed the country for the terrorist group Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack.

Some donors have begun to pull millions in funding to the universities as a repercussion for their perceived insufficient condemnations by deans, the Australian Financial Review noted.