ED Expands Antisemitism Investigation at Swarthmore

The Education Department is expanding its investigation into antisemitism at Swarthmore College after a formerly recognized student group allegedly reposted an online video of people burning an effigy of an Israeli soldier. ED said the video appeared to include a call for violence at protests on the third anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. 

Swarthmore President Valerie Smith said in a statement that the video was reposted by the Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine group, which had its college affiliation permanently revoked last September after it led a multiday encampment on campus that resulted in nine arrests. 

Since SJP’s affiliation was revoked, Smith said, the group can’t use college funds or host events on campus, and other student groups can’t affiliate with it or act on its behalf. It’s unclear if those running the group now are Swarthmore students, she said.

For those reasons, Smith wrote, “We believe the complaints against the College that led to [the Office for Civil Rights’] expanded investigation have no merit.”

Smith said she condemns the “hateful depiction of violence, just as I do all forms of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other discrimination within our community.”

The investigation into antisemitism at Swarthmore began early in President Trump’s second term, when ED sent letters to 60 institutions warning them of potential consequences if they failed to comply with their obligation to protect Jewish students from discrimination. According to a Biden-era database of civil rights investigations, two cases related to national origin and religion at Swarthmore were opened in 2024, at least one of which focused on Jewish students.

In a statement announcing the expanded investigation, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said the new allegations highlight the need for safe learning environments free of radicalism and antisemitism.

“If Swarthmore has in fact turned a blind eye to such provocation—using the most horrific acts of violence against Jews since the Holocaust as a propaganda tool—someone is asleep at the wheel,” Richey wrote. “The Trump Administration will never allow students to be subjected to an unsafe learning environment.”

Smith said the college has no control over what the Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine posts, but such content is not welcome in the community. 

“Swarthmore embraces individuals’ rights to express their views, even views others might find objectionable, if not offensive,” she said. “However, as I’ve said on many occasions, we cannot allow that commitment to come at the expense of our right to learn, work, and live in a campus community free from intimidation, harassment, and discrimination.”