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The Department of Education launched an investigation on Thursday into seven U.S. schools and universities that have reported incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia, CNN first reported.

The U.S. has seen a recent uptick in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, including at schools and on college campuses across the nation.

On Thursday, the department released a list of schools and universities that will be under investigation, including a K-12 school in Kansas and colleges in New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

The investigations, which involve five antisemitism cases and two Islamophobia cases, were launched under a section of the Civil Rights Act requiring schools and universities to create discrimination-free environments for students.

“Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are — or are perceived to be — Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

This is the first probe of its kind from the department since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, CNN reported.

Students have reported experiencing threats of violence and discrimination in the wake of the ongoing war. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a total of 312 antisemitic incidents linked to the Israel-Hamas war were reported in the first two weeks since the Oct. 7 attack — more than four times the number of incidents reported at the same time last year.

Last month, a student at Cornell University was arrested for threatening violence against Jewish students, and at Drexel University, a Jewish student’s dorm was set on fire, NPR reported. Students at Columbia University also came forward about antisemitic threats of violence they experienced, CBS News reported.

At American University, the police and FBI investigated a death threat sent to a Palestinian employee last month. Members of a student organization at Harvard University were also doxxed after signing a pro-Palestine letter.

Columbia and Cornell are on the Department of Education’s list of schools to investigate.

“The rise of reports of hate incidents on our college campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict is deeply traumatic for students and should be alarming to all Americans,” Cardona said in a statement last week. “Antisemitism, Islamophobia and all other forms of hatred go against everything we stand for as a nation.”

President Joe Biden warned U.S. schools and colleges to take immediate action to address the “alarming rise” in antisemitism and Islamophobia. On Tuesday, the administration announced actions and resources to combat the incidents, including webinars and listening sessions for school and university leaders.

The Department of Education said that it will provide recommendations for schools at the end of its investigation into the schools and colleges. The schools could risk losing their funding from the government if they don’t comply with the recommendations, an official told CNN.

Wichita-area school district investigated amid US crackdown on antisemitism, Islamophobia.

The Maize School District is among seven institutions under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for alleged antisemitism or Islamophobia.

The investigations come in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and are part of the Biden 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 in K-12 schools,” according to a Department of Education news release that announced the investigations Thursday.

The Maize School District is the only K-12 institution on the list. The rest are colleges: Columbia University in New York, Cornell University in New York, Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, Wellesley College in Massachusetts, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York and the University of Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights released the list Thursday. It shows higher education and K-12 schools “under investigation for alleged shared ancestry violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), which prohibits race, color, or national origin discrimination, including harassment based on a person’s shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics,” the news release says.

Specifics of the allegations against the Maize School District weren’t immediately clear.

Five of the investigations involve alleged antisemitic harassment and two involve alleged anti-Muslim harassment, the release says. An institution’s inclusion on the investigation list doesn’t necessarily mean it has broken the law.

USD 266 spokeswoman Lori O’Toole Buselt said in an emailed statement that the district received an email from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights at 6:38 p.m. Thursday. The department did not provide the district with a copy of the complaint, “so we are unable to make any further comment regarding this matter,” O’Toole Buselt wrote.

The district has around 8,000 students from Maize, northwest Wichita and the surrounding area, according to its website.

“Maize USD 266 takes allegations of discrimination seriously and is committed to cooperating fully with any investigation,” O’Toole Buselt said in the statement. “The school district is dedicated to providing a place for teaching and learning that prioritizes and champions respect and inclusivity and where all students and employees feel safe and valued.”

All of the institutions under investigation were apparently notified late this week. Five of the investigations were opened Thursday and two were opened Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights plans to update weekly its list of K-12 schools and higher education institutions under investigation for possible shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics discrimination. Some examples of complaints that fall under that umbrella include ethnic or ancestral slurs aimed at students, harassment tied to dress or language linked to ethnicity or ancestry, and stereotyping.

Anyone can filed a Title VI complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. Complaints can be filed on forms available at www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html or by letter or email.

“Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are — or are perceived to be — Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a prepared statement included with the release.

Colleges, universities and K-12 schools that receive federal funding are required to provide all students with a discrimination-free school environment. Those that violate the law or refuse to address problems risk losing federal funding. They can also be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, the release says.