ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An Allentown college is now under federal investigation.
Muhlenberg College on Tuesday was added to the U.S. Department of Education’s list of schools “currently under investigation for discrimination involving shared ancestry.”
The private liberal arts college is the second Lehigh Valley school to be added to the list. Lafayette College was one of seven institutions that the department began investigating in November.
In the case of Muhlenberg, no information has been released about what sparked the investigation.
“If and when there are accusations of conduct violations, these are thoroughly investigated with appropriate actions taken based on the findings.”Muhlenberg College's VP for Communications & Marketing Todd Lineburger, in an emailed statement
The college’s VP for Communications & Marketing Todd Lineburger said in an emailed statement that Muhlenberg is “cooperating fully” with the investigation.
“We do not tolerate antisemitism, islamophobia, xenophobia or any other form of harassment, bigotry or abuse nor any incitement to violence or calls for genocide,” the statement read.
“If and when there are accusations of conduct violations, these are thoroughly investigated with appropriate actions taken based on the findings.”
According to the Department of Education’s website, it does not have the power to directly address religious discrimination.
“However, [Title VI] protects students of any religion from discrimination, including harassment, based on a student’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics,” the website states.
Investigations do not mean that the institution violated a federal anti-discrimination statute, according to the Department of Education.
It either means that a complaint was filed with the department’s Office of Civil Rights and the agency decided to investigate it or that the department has opened a compliance review.
Similar investigations across the country
When the investigations into Lafayette College and others launched in November, a news release said the action was “part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued efforts to take aggressive action to address the alarming nationwide rise in reports of antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and other forms of discrimination and harassment on college campuses and K-12 schools since the October 7 Israel-Hamas conflict.”
A statement released by Lafayette College at the time said college officials did not know why the agency included the college in the investigation.
In December, a U.S. House of Representatives committee held a hearing with presidents of Ivy League schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, about combatting antisemitism since the Israel-Hamas conflict began.
Both the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University later resigned following backlash to their testimony.
The investigation into Muhlenberg College opened the same day as an investigation into Temple University in Philadelphia, as well as three other universities.
Muhlenberg College’s Jewish students make up about 22% of the total student population, according to Hillel International.
In an undated FAQ credited to the Muhlenberg College's Director of the Leffell Center for Jewish Student Life Ira Blum, he said the college is “an excellent and safe environment to be Jewish as well as proudly Zionist.”
“We know that these days, Israel is not just a polarizing issue in our public discourse, it’s also extremely divisive among Jews,” Blum wrote in the FAQ.
“We therefore continue to support Jewish students collectively and individually through values of ensuring safety and wellbeing while encouraging thoughtful and respectful learning around the questions and issues sought by our students.”
Blum was appointed to the position in late 2020, according to the college's website. He did not respond to a request for an interview.
