Readout of Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and Secretary Miguel Cardona's Meeting to Discuss the Alarming Rise of Antisemitism on Campuses

Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, and other senior Biden-Harris Administration officials today met with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. During the meeting, they discussed actions the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to counter the alarming uptick in instances of Antisemitism at schools and college campuses.

The Second Gentleman and Secretary Cardona heard from Jewish leaders about the extremely disturbing pattern of Antisemitic threats of violence in schools and college campuses since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. Mr. Emhoff and Secretary Cardona unequivocally denounced Antisemitism and all other forms of hate. They also reaffirmed the Administration's support for Israel and the right for Israel to defend itself against terrorism.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced actions to combat Antisemitism in schools and on college campuses. The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security have taken steps to ensure campus law enforcement is included in engagements with state and local law enforcement. The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has expedited its update of the intake process for discrimination complaints under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, to specifically state that certain forms of Antisemitic and related forms of discrimination are prohibited by this law.

Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, the Administration will continue to engage with leading organizations and students to hear from them directly and take additional actions to counter Antisemitism and hate.

Other participants in the meeting included:

• CEO of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal
• CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations William C. Daroff
• CEO of Jewish Federations of North America Eric Fingerhut
• National Director of the Anti-Defamation League Jonathan Greenblatt
• Executive Vice Chairman of the Orthodox Union Rabbi Moshe Hauer
• CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women Sheila Katz
• CEO of Hillel International Adam Lehman
• Founder and Chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law Kenneth Marcus
• Managing Director of American Jewish Committee Julie Rayman
• Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Harriet P. Schleifer
• CEO of the Jewish Council on Public Affairs Amy Spitalnick
• Acting Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism Barbara Weinstein