UC Berkeley Gives Trump Administration 160 Names in Antisemitism Investigation

UC Berkeley has turned over information about 160 students and staff accused of antisemitism to the Trump administration, the university said Friday.

The move comes as the federal government continues to investigate allegations of antisemitism on campuses, largely at those that have seen large pro-Palestinian demonstrations against Israel’s war in Gaza.

In a statement, UC Berkeley said it acted on the advice of the University of California’s attorneys in complying with the demand for information from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which investigates alleged discrimination on college campuses.

The Department of Education’s investigation is just one part of the Trump administration’s multipronged effort to root out what it describes as pervasive antisemitism at the country’s top universities. In March, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it was investigating whether the UC system created a hostile work environment for Jewish employees. And in April, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws, subpoenaed the UC for information about some employees.

Last week, UC Berkeley notified those whose names appeared in files and reports related to how the school handled alleged antisemitic incidents. It did so as students had previously expressed concern about their information being released to the federal government, as that information has been used to deport students who were in the United States on student visas at universities including Columbia and Tufts.

Judith Butler, a distinguished professor in UC Berkeley’s graduate school who is also Jewish, received the notice last week.

The notice didn’t say whether the allegation was against Butler or whether their name just happened to be in the file, along with other information.

“It was ambiguous as a letter,” Butler said. “What was, of course, most disturbing was to discover that I was allegedly guilty of antisemitism, and that I was given no option to see that complaint, nor was I given an option to respond to that complaint.”

Butler said that violated university policies that allow the accused to know the name of their accuser, read the complaint against them and have their response recorded as part of the final adjudication.

Butler said the complaint is likely due to their activism as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, which objects to Israel’s war in Gaza and has led mass protests in the Bay Area and beyond.

“It’s obviously equating political expression on Palestine with antisemitism,” Butler said. “It cannot be the case that to support Palestinian lives — which I do as a Jewish person, and which I proudly do as part of Jewish Voice for Peace — it cannot be that it goes against Jewish values to stop a genocide against an entire people.

“The only way that that makes sense is if we accept somehow that any criticism of Israel or any support of Palestine is a sign of antisemitism or is a sign of support for Hamas or any of those kinds of things,” Butler continued. “But in fact, people have all kinds of reasons for criticizing the State of Israel, and probably the most predominant of them right now are humanitarian reasons.”

Butler, who said they are largely retired, fears for others on the list, including international students who could have their visas threatened.

“The administration has not been honest with its own community, and it has broken trust with the community … knowing full well that the consequences [of forwarding these names] could be deportation, harassment, detention, loss of employment, limitations imposed on passports, congressional hearings, vilification, abduction,” Butler said. “All of these things have happened to students at other universities.”

Butler had hoped that UC Berkeley leaders would have followed the likes of Princeton, George Mason and other universities that have told the federal government they wouldn’t comply with those kinds of requests.

In response to Butler’s allegations, the UC Office of the President said that as a public university, it is subject to oversight by state and federal agencies and routinely receives document requests.

“UC is committed to protecting the privacy of our students, faculty, and staff to the greatest extent possible, while fulfilling its legal obligations,” the statement said.

UC Berkeley’s notice sent to the affected students and staff said the Office for Civil Rights investigation is ongoing, and the university may be obligated to produce more documents in the future.

The Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.