On Wednesday, the US Education Department reached a settlement with Johns Hopkins University to address accusations regarding discrimination against people of Arab and Jewish ancestry. According to the settlement, which the Education Department posted online, the university has committed to reviewing its anti-harassment rules and training staff and students on how to deal with harassment and discrimination based on ancestry and ethnicity. 

Johns Hopkins confirmed the agreement to local news outlets. "Discrimination of any kind, including antisemitism and anti-Arab bias, is not only at odds with university policy, but is also antithetical to our most fundamental values," a spokesperson for Johns Hopkins told the Baltimore Banner news website. Since Israel began its invasion of Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by the Islamist group Hamas, rights activists have observed an increase in antisemitic, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic occurrences, notably during protests on campuses. Racial discrimination is prohibited in US education programs that receive federal financing under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. From October 2023 to May 2024, Johns Hopkins University received 99 complaints of harassment based on shared ancestry, according to the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights. 

According to the Education Department, university records were "replete with reports" of tropes being used against Jewish people on campus, and it included complaints about academics reportedly using derogatory language against Arab and Palestinian people as one example. One of the professors, in one such statement allegedly said, "Those brutal Arabs will, God willing, pay a price like never before," the Education Department claims. In another case, the department said, a protester on campus allegedly brandished a sign with a swastika on it while expressing support for Hamas. Student protesters at US campuses staged months-long demonstrations calling for an end to US backing for Israel's attack in Gaza and college investments in companies that allegedly aided Israel's control of Palestinian territory. 

According to local health professionals, Israel's 15-month-long attack on Gaza has killed about 46,000 Palestinians. The Hamas’ onslaught on Israel claimed the lives of about 1,200 people and took another 250 hostages, as per Israeli estimates. The City University of New York, Rutgers University, the University of Michigan, and the University of California have all signed such agreements with the Education Department to address grievances.