Education secretary to hold talks on anti-Semitism, Islamophobia at Dartmouth

Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will speak on the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on college campuses at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire on Wednesday.

According to the Education Department, Cardona will hold a roundtable discussion with students and Dartmouth President Sian Beilock at its Hanover campus at 2:15 p.m., Eastern.

Cardona will also host a news gaggle at approximately 3 p.m., Eastern after he meets with students at the college's Sanborn Library.

The topics of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on college campuses along with free speech rights have exploded since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 along with the country's ongoing military response.

The Education Department has already launched investigations into nearly 60 elementary-secondary and post-secondary institutions for alleged anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents on their campuses.

The volatile topic has cost the former Harvard President Claudine Gay and the University of Pennsylvania ex-president Liz Magill their jobs after testifying in the House late last year after they tried to balance alleged threatening comments with free speech rights, along with keeping students safe.

In December, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced they would launch an investigation into the policies and disciplinary procedures at higher education institutions based on the testimony of Gay, Magill and MIT President Sally Kornbluth, who also testified with Gay and Magill.

"We can't stand by and stand silent [in the wake of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents]," President Joe Biden said in November in announcing steps his administration was taking in the light of rising incidents.

"We must, without equivocation, denounce anti-Semitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia."