Written By Matt Egan
A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Thursday could make it easier for students to file civil rights complaints over antisemitism and Islamophobia on college campuses and to hold those schools accountable for protecting students.
The bill, introduced by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy and Democratic Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey, would require colleges and universities to report the number of civil rights complaints they receive and the actions they took to address them.
Under the legislation, called theĀ Protecting Students on Campus Act, the Education Departmentās inspector general would be required to audit institutions that report high ratios of discrimination complaints relative to their student population.
Colleges and universities would be forced to post links and language explaining to students how to file complaints under Title VI of the Civil Rights ActĀ on their homepages. That 1964 legislation mandates that universities receiving federal funding donāt discriminate against students.
The bipartisan legislation introduced Thursday would also compel the Education Departmentās assistant secretary of civil rights to brief Congress monthly on how many discrimination complaints have been received and how long theyāve been pending.
āAmid a despicable rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia in our country,ā Fetterman said in a statement, āI am proud to introduce this bill with my colleagues to empower students facing discrimination to take action and hold universities accountable in protecting students.ā
Since the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, the Education Department hasĀ launched an unprecedented numberĀ of Title VI investigations into colleges, including Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University andĀ Stanford.
The new legislation would prevent the Education Department from closing or dismissing complaints that have been resolved by other government agencies.
āNo student should be harassed or attacked at school just because of who they are,ā Cassidy said in a statement. āThis legislation holds colleges and universities accountable and ensures discrimination against students is never ignored.ā
Congress has been intensifying its oversight of universities over the past several months.
The House Education Committee is demanding HarvardĀ turn over a mountain of documentsĀ on how it has responded to allegations of bothĀ plagiarismĀ and antisemitism.
Another House panel, the powerful Ways and Means Committee, threatened on Wednesday toĀ reassess the lucrative tax-exempt status of four universities āĀ Harvard, MIT, Cornell and the UPenn ā due to concerns about how they have handled antisemitism on campus.