Berkeley discloses 160 names in federal antisemitism probe

The University of California, Berkeley notified about 160 faculty, staff and students on Sept. 4 that their names had been provided to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights as part of a federal investigation into alleged antisemitism on campus, and this disclosure comes amid a broader legal battle in which University of California faculty, staff, student organizations and labor unions have sued the federal government, accusing it of weaponizing civil rights laws to curtail academic freedom. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco and seeks to block what plaintiffs describe as a campaign of funding cuts and intrusive demands aimed at the UC system and other universities.

Berkeley said in a statement that it complied with a document request from the Office for Civil Rights after being directed by the University of California Office of the General Counsel and that numerous documents had been produced to the Education Department over recent months. The university said those notified included people accused of or affected by alleged antisemitic incidents as well as those who had filed complaints. The Education Department had no immediate...