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Trump admin investigating UC Berkeley over Chinese funding
The Department of Education has opened an investigation into whether the University of California at Berkeley has properly disclosed its foreign funding.
In its announcement Friday, the ED hinted that UC Berkeley's significant receipt of funds from communist China was at issue, referring to "credible news media reports" from May 2023 and a June 6, 2023, department letter to the university concerning troubling funding allegations.
Allegations
The Daily Beast reported in May 2023 that UC Berkeley failed to declare "a single cent" of the financial support it received from Chinese sources for its joint technology venture with the state-controlled Tsinghua University, including a $220 million investment from the municipal government of Shenzhen to construct a research campus in China.
Under section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, postsecondary institutions receiving federal funding must disclose foreign source gifts and contracts valued at $250,000 or more to the Education Department.
In addition to failing to mention the $220 million investment, Berkeley acknowledged that it also failed to disclose to the American government a $19 million contract it was paid from Tsinghua University in 2016.
According to the Daily Beast, Berkeley researchers gave Chinese communist officials private tours of their "cutting-edge U.S. semiconductor facilities and gave 'priority commercialization rights' for intellectual properties they produced to Chinese government-backed funds."
Just as there were various benefits to the investment on the Chinese side of the equation, Berkeley faculty members also reportedly took full advantage, "extending [their] research capabilities" and earning "consulting fees" for working as research advisers.
'Responses revealed a fundamental misunderstanding.'
Lawmakers subsequently pressed Berkeley and its leadership in 2023 about its joint institute with Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen government in China, citing research security concerns.
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party noted that the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute provided the Chinese regime with "easy access to Berkeley research and expertise, which the [People's Republic of China] can then use to its economic, technological, and military advantage."
In addition to flagging security and competition issues with UC Berkeley's arrangement with America's pre-eminent rival, the committee took aim at the university's apparent violation of section 117.
The ED wrote to UC Berkeley in early June 2023, asking that it address the allegations.
According to the department, Berkeley acknowledged in response "having failed to report millions of dollars in foreign government funding, as required by Section 117, and detailed its multiyear effort to cultivate a close relationship with and secure financial commitments from foreign government-controlled entities."
The Department of Education noted that the university's "responses revealed a fundamental misunderstanding regarding its Section 117 reporting obligations."
Enforcement
A September report from the Select Committee on the CCP and the Committee on Education and the Workforce noted that congressional investigators "uncovered significant failures in the reporting of foreign funding by UC Berkeley ... under section 117."
'The Biden-Harris administration turned a blind eye to colleges and universities' legal obligations.'
The problem, according to the report, was not just that certain schools were failing to meet lawful reporting obligations but that there was a lack of enforcement on the part of the relevant authorities.
"Enforcement of foreign gift and contract reporting requirements by the Biden-Harris Department of Education has been an abject failure," said the report. "And the Biden-Harris Department of Education has failed to open a single enforcement action under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act in the last four years, despite widespread evidence of lack of reporting."
President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to: reverse or undo actions taken by the Biden administration "that permit higher education institutions to maintain improper secrecy regarding their foreign funding"; "take appropriate steps to require universities to more specifically disclose details about foreign funding, including the true source and purpose of the funds"; and hold noncompliant institutions accountable.
Trump noted, "It is the policy of my administration to end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions, protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation."
Following through on the president's order, McMahon directed the Education Department's Office of General Counsel to reassume the department's section 117 enforcement functions, which were previously shifted to the ill-equipped Office of Federal Student Aid.
"The Biden-Harris administration turned a blind eye to colleges and universities' legal obligations by deprioritizing oversight and allowing foreign gifts to pour onto American campuses," McMahon said in a statement. "Despite widespread compliance failures, no new section 117 investigations were initiated for four years, and ongoing investigations were closed prematurely."
'We can go after the universities.'
"I have great confidence in my Office of General Counsel to investigate these matters fully, and they will begin by thoroughly examining UC Berkeley's apparent failure to fully and accurately disclose significant funding received from foreign sources," added McMahon.
Dan Mogulof, Berkeley's assistant vice chancellor for executive communications, said in a statement obtained by the New York Post, "Over the course of the last two years, UC Berkeley has been cooperating with federal inquiries regarding [Section] 117 reporting issues, and will continue to do so."
A senior Education Department official told reporters that Berkeley will have "30 days to respond with the records that we requested, and so we hope to have quite a volume of records and we'll be able to verify the degree to which UC-Berkeley is or is not compliant after our examination of those records."
The Treasury Department will reportedly assist with the investigation.
"We're going to have a lot more help this time, which is wonderful, and I think that that will enable us to we can actually under the law, we can go after the universities," said the Education Department official.
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60 universities face anti-Semitism investigations: Trump's Education Department
President Donald Trump's Department of Education announced on Monday that it has launched investigations into 60 universities across the nation over anti-Semitism concerns.
Last week, the Education Department, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. General Services Administration canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University due to its "inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students," according to a DOE press release.
'Deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite US campuses continue to fear for their safety.'
The university was notified earlier this month that the joint task force would complete a review of its more than $5 billion federal grant commitments as part of an investigation into potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The action was linked to Trump's executive order combatting anti-Semitism, which also led to Immigration and Customs Enforcement's recent detainment of the leader of a pro-Hamas group associated with violent protests at Columbia University.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, "This is the first arrest of many to come. We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the Country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it."
"Many are not students, they are paid agitators," he continued. "We will find, apprehend, and deport these terrorist sympathizers from our country — never to return again. If you support terrorism, including the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children, your presence is contrary to our national and foreign policy interests, and you are not welcome here. We expect every one of America's Colleges and Universities to comply."
A spokesperson for Columbia University told the New York Post that the school will "work with the federal government to restore Columbia's federal funding."
"We take Columbia's legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is and are committed to combatting anti-Semitism and ensuring the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff," the spokesperson stated.
On Monday, the Education Department took further action against the nation's universities that have allowed disruptive and sometimes violent pro-Hamas and anti-Israel protests to take over their campuses.
The department announced that its Office for Civil Rights sent letters to 60 universities "warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus, including uninterrupted access to campus facilities and educational opportunities."
It noted that those 60 higher learning institutions — including Arizona State University, Harvard University, Rutgers University, the State University of New York, the University of California, and Yale University — are currently under investigation.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated, "The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless anti-Semitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better."
"U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws," she added.
Universities respond
A spokesperson for ASU told KPNX, "Arizona State University has a long history of opposing anti-Semitic rhetoric and acts of intimidation whether they occur on our campuses or in the community. The university has been very clear about this position."
In response to potential funding threats, Harvard announced a temporary hiring freeze on Monday.
"Effective immediately, Harvard will implement a temporary pause on staff and faculty hiring across the University. In the coming days, we will work closely with the leadership of Harvard's Schools and administrative units to help determine how to implement this guidance in extraordinary cases, such as positions essential to fulfilling the terms of gift- or grant-funded projects," it stated.
A Rutgers spokesperson told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the school "condemns anti-Semitism in the strongest terms possible, and we always will do so. Our strong Jewish community is a point of pride for the university. The university adheres to state and federal law and will always strive to strengthen and enforce the policies and practices that protect our students, faculty, and staff."
A SUNY spokesperson told the Legislative Gazette, "SUNY has no tolerance for anti-Semitism and will continue to ensure that our campuses are safe and inclusive for Jewish students and free from all forms of discrimination and harassment."
"SUNY has frequently and consistently publicly condemned anti-Semitism, opposed [boycott, divestment, and sanctions movements], and taken major steps to ensure compliance with all federal civil rights laws. The safety and security of our students is and always will be paramount," the spokesperson added.
The UC Office of the President said in a statement to KXTV that it is aware that several of its campuses received a letter from the Education Department.
"We want to be clear: The University of California is unwavering in its commitment to combatting anti-Semitism and protecting the civil rights of all our students, faculty, staff, and visitors. We continue to take specific steps to foster an environment free of anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination and harassment for everyone in the university community," the statement read.
A Yale University spokesperson told the Yale Daily News, "Yale has long been committed to combatting anti-Semitism and strives to ensure that its Jewish community, along with all communities at Yale, are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion. Anti-Semitism is inconsistent with Yale's values and principles and has no place in our community."
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