UW-Madison could lose federal funds, letter warns; here's why

MILWAUKEE - The Trump administration accused the University of Wisconsin-Madison of failing to protect Jewish students. Now, the university is at risk of losing federal funds.

Department of Education letter

What they're saying:

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights sent UW-Madison a letter on Monday. It came with a warning of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill obligations under Title VI of the civil rights act to protect Jewish students on campus. 

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"That funding supports research. It supports many other programs the universities offer," Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said Tuesday morning on FOX & Friends. "This is not about freedom of speech, we’re talking about violence on campus."

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Pro-Palestinian protests

The backstory:

The letter came in response to pro-Palestinian encampments that formed at both UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee after the war began between Israel and Hamas.

"I don’t think there is any rightness in pulling funding from a public university," said Chris Van Valkenberg, a pro-Palestinian protester with Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society. 

Encampment of pro-Palestinian supporters on UW-Madison campus

Big picture view:

The move comes after the Trump administration canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University. The White House said the cut was because the Ivy League school failed to stop antisemitism on campus. 

Local perspective:

UW-Madison told FOX6 News "it has a strong and deep commitment to supporting its Jewish Badgers, free expression and helping all students feel a sense of belonging. The university took a number of additional steps entering the 2024-25 academic year."

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"I think this is a show of force, a performance that is designed to scare universities," said Amadi Ozier, a UW-Madison English professor who was present at the campus protests. 

Ozier fears cuts could impact already under-represented students. 

"Who are obviously extremely concerned about what this threat to a loss of funding will specifically do to hurt poor students, hurt scholarship students, hurt immigrant students, rural students who are going to feel the brunt of this before anyone else feels the loss of federal funding," she said.

Protest at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

What they're saying:

In an online statement, UW-Madison said, in part:

UW–Madison condemns antisemitism in all its forms and strives to promote a welcoming campus environment for all members of the campus community, free from discrimination, including harassment based upon race, shared ancestry, national origin or other protected categories.

As referenced Tuesday by the Department of Education, the university was one of 60 universities with a pending Title VI complaint that received a letter. It continues to cooperate with any inquiries or requests for information from OCR.