The nomination of Harmeet K. Dhillon by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Justice Department's civil rights division has been met with relief by Jewish students.
This comes amidst a surge of antisemitism incidents at universities across the United States.
Trump lauded Dhillon as a champion of civil rights on Monday when he announced her nomination. He highlighted her significant legal battles in defense of free speech, religious rights, and anti-woke discrimination cases. However, it is Dhillon's vocal criticism of Ivy League schools for their failure to address antisemitism that has sparked hope among many students.
Dhillon has consistently adopted a firm stance against antisemitism at U.S. universities. In April, Sahar Tartak, a Yale student from Long Island, revealed on X that she was hospitalized after being assaulted by an anti-Israel mob while walking with her visibly Jewish friend on campus. Dhillon encouraged Tartak and others to take legal action against the university and the assailants.
"Sue Yale. Sue every university that refuses to keep students safe based on their religion. Make them regret their choices," Dhillon responded on X. "Deplete their endowments. Sue each and every violent protester and organizers. Drain their bank accounts. Sew salt in their careers."
In a separate video circulating online, Dhillon referred to anti-Israel protesters who were preventing Jewish students from accessing their campuses as "little terrorists."
"If you want to link arms & block access to a campus...tap a cop on the head, f--- around and find out, you should be arrested & hauled off to jail...," Dhillon said in the clip. "I think these students are little terrorists. They're terrorizing Jewish students, and they're terrorizing everybody who wants to get an education at that campus and that is not permitted by the First Amendment..."
According to Fox News, a webpage on Dhillon's law firm site underscores its commitment to representing victims of campus antisemitism as part of their larger mission of "upholding civil rights and defending constitutional principles across the nation."
"We are proud to extend our unwavering legal support to Jewish individuals who have encountered discrimination, retaliation, or harassment in their school or workplace environments," the website states. "Our firm is ready to allocate extensive resources to support individuals who have suffered due to antisemitism."
Tartak, now a junior at Yale, lauded Trump's nomination of Dhillon. She told Fox News Digital that she and other Jewish students continue to grapple with disturbing antisemitic incidents on campus regularly.
"Because the university does not exhibit moral clarity and refuses to stand up for what's right, the environment at Yale has and will continue to be unsafe for Jewish students," she said. "It is so important and such a relief to have someone of her stature and role not only stand up for Jewish students but stand up for our country and our civilization. I wish she didn't have to."
Tartak asserted that Trump's selection of Dhillon puts Yale and other universities "on notice" as he fulfills his pledge to clamp down on unchecked campus antisemitism and violence.
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Harvard University graduate who is currently suing the university for pervasive and systemic antisemitism, also commended Trump's selection of Dhillon, cautioning, "Harvard should be very, very nervous."
"This has been a consistent theme within the Trump transition team namely, that promises made will be promises kept," he told Fox News Digital. "There is a moral and legal imperative for institutions of higher learning that have betrayed the American taxpayer, discriminated against Jewish students and enabled the culture of political indoctrination, to finally be held accountable."
Kestenbaum described it as a "a damning indictment on the current administration that we Jewish students are counting down until January 20 for justice to finally be served."
The Harvard graduate hailed Dhillon as "someone who has been at the forefront, not just on social media but within the political landscape, amplifying the voices of Jewish students and encouraging them to hold their colleges accountable," telling Fox News Digital that students across the U.S. are "incredibly relieved" by news of her nomination.
"Come January 20th, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and any other university that has failed to sufficiently address campus antisemitism, should expect to have it coming.
"If they're not shaking in their boots, then they're not paying attention," he said. "The American people in November repudiated the Ivy League values, the sense of moral hypocrisy and elitism and absolutely, Harvard in particular, will feel the sting of the Trump Administration if they continue to act in this way."
Harvard did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Trump's victory has put colleges and universities on high alert after he pledged to reform higher education as part of his plan to overhaul the U.S. education system. U.S. universities have been criticized in recent months for their inadequate response to antisemitism as protests and encampments overtook campuses nationwide amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Many universities chose to ignore the issue, leading to a mass exodus by donors who withdrew millions in grants and severed ties with their alma maters.
Trump has repeatedly targeted colleges and universities on the campaign trail, vowing to liberate American higher education from the clutches of what he termed "Marxist Maniacs." His 2024 platform called for "deporting pro-Hamas radicals and making our college campuses safe and patriotic again." Trump has also pledged to combat "wokeness" and progressive culture in education, consistently criticizing DEI initiatives, which he believes are inadvertently discriminatory.
In July, Trump announced that he would propose a measure to have schools "fined up to the entire amount of their endowment" if they do not cease DEI programs that engage in "explicit unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity." He has also threatened to withhold federal dollars from schools that participate in online censorship as part of his plan to "shatter the left-wing censorship regime."
His selection of Dhillon for the task "proves he is putting his money where his mouth is," a New York student told Fox News Digital.
She and the president-elect largely agree on the issue. In May, Dhillon posted on X, "Incredible the number of future doctors & lawyers shouting from the river to the sea while draped in keffiyehs & calling for death to Israel. No wonder these same soft-brains go on to push gender ideology, pronouns, DEI. If you stand for nothing, youll fall for anything."
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