President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Harmeet K. Dhillon to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division has Jewish students breathing a sigh of relief as incidents of antisemitism continue to run rampant at universities across the U.S.
Trump announced Dhillon’s nomination for the role on Monday, hailing her as a civil rights warrior who has taken on prominent legal battles in defense of free speech, religious rights and anti-woke discrimination cases.
But it’s Dhillon’s outspoken position against Ivy League schools for their failure to combat antisemitism that has many students hopeful that help is on the way.
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Harmeet Dhillon, attorney and member of the Republican National Committee, speaks to members of the media during the Republican National Committee winter meeting in Dana Point, California, US, on Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. (Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Dhillon has repeatedly taken a hard-line stance against antisemitism at U.S. universities. In April, Sahar Tarktak, a Yale student from Long Island, wrote on X that she was hospitalized after she was attacked by an anti-Israel mob for walking with her visibly Jewish friend on campus.
Dhillon urged Tartak and others to take legal action against the university and her attackers.
“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 described anti-Israel protesters who were blocking 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…”
A webpage on Dhillon’s law firm site outlines 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.”
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“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 reads. “Our firm is ready to allocate extensive resources to support individuals who have suffered due to antisemitism.”
Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Tartak, now a junior at Yale, praised Trump’s nomination of Dhillon, telling Fox News Digital that she and other Jewish students are still grappling 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 said Trump’s selection of Dhillon puts Yale and other universities “on notice” as he fulfills his vow to crack down on unchecked campus antisemitism and violence.
Harvard University graduate Shabbos Kestenbaum, who is currently suing the university alleging pervasive and systemic antisemitism, also praised Trump’s selection of Dhillon, warning, “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 said it’s 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.
Shabbos Kestenbaum at Boston Jewish unity rally (Shabbos Kestenbaum)
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“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 colleges and universities on high alert after he vowed to take on higher education as part of his plan to overhaul the U.S. education system. U.S. universities have come under scrutiny in recent months for their lackluster response to antisemitism as protests and encampments overtook campuses nationwide amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Many universities chose to look the other way, prompting a mass exodus by donors who withdrew millions in grants and severed relationships with their alma matters.
Harmeet Dhillon greets President Trump after he arrives aboard Air Force One at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View, Calif. to attend a Republican Party fundraiser at an undisclosed location on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019. ((Photo By Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))
Trump has repeatedly targeted colleges and universities on the campaign trail, pledging to free higher learning in America from the grip of what he called “Marxist Maniacs.” His platform in 2024 called for “deporting pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again.” Trump has also vowed to combat “wokeness” and progressive culture in education, repeatedly railing against DEI initiatives, which he believes are inadvertently discriminatory.
In July, Trump said that he would advance a measure to have schools “fined up to the entire amount of their endowment” if they do not desist DEI programs that engage in “explicit unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity.” He has also threatened to withhold federal dollars from schools that play a role in online censorship as part of his plan to “shatter the left-wing censorship regime.”
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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 see eye to eye 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, you’ll fall for anything.”
