The University of Washington said it was notified that the DOJ was conducting a compliance review over the university’s handling of antisemitism on campus.
SEATTLE — The U.S. Department of Justice will investigate the University of Washington over concerns about how it has handled antisemitism on the campus.
Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the DOJ, said in a post on X that she authorized a civil rights investigation Friday.
UW spokesperson Victor Balta confirmed the investigation saying the university was notified that the DOJ was conducting a compliance review. Balta said the university would cooperate with the review and provide information and responses.
“The University of Washington strongly and unequivocally opposes antisemitism in all forms,” Balta said.
In the post, Dhillon called out the group SUPER UW – which stands for Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return – that planned to hold a fundraising event for Lebanon on Tuesday. Dhillon said the group had a history of “violent antisemitic activity” on the campus.
Balta said the group’s registration was suspended in June 2024 and revoked in May 2025.
The group has continued to post on Facebook under the name SUPER UW to organize events. Balta said the university reported the group’s unauthorized use of UW’s name to Meta, which didn’t address the issue. UW appealed Meta’s decision March 10.
This isn’t the first time the university has come under scrutiny from the Trump administration. In March 2025, UW was on the Department of Education’s list of universities that would be investigated for antisemitic discrimination and harassment.
At the time, the university said it had previously agreed to five actions with the Department of Education’s civil rights division to strengthen timely and effective responses to complaints filed by students, staff and faculty. It also said it was implementing recommendations from the university’s antisemitism task force.
The university came under fire a year prior after antisemitic graffiti were tagged on campus buildings while a pro-Palestinian encampment was underway in May 2024. The encampment was protesting UW’s ties to Boeing and its defense work amid the Israel-Hamas War. The graffiti prompted the university to ask the encampment to disband.
In May 2025, UW suspended and banned 21 students who broke into an engineering building and damaged equipment. The protesters were demanding the university cut Boeing ties.
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