WASHINGTON, October 12, 2026 – Federal oversight on suburban Philadelphia college campuses stepped up this week after the U.S. Department of Education broadened an ongoing civil rights investigation into Swarthmore College.
In a letter issued October 7, the Office for Civil Rights announced to campus administrators that it’s broadening a Title VI investigation which it initiated in 2024. This comes as a result of new complaints which alleged inadequate response by the institution to claims of antisemitic harassment on campus.
While Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which explicitly prohibits racial discrimination, color discrimination, and national-origin discrimination in federally assisted programs, applies, the Department of Education’s longstanding policy makes clear that they also extend to ancestral or religious distinctions, such as Jewish ancestry.
Importantly, however, an increased probe is not a direct punishment but does not necessarily lead to a reduction in federal funding. According to the federal civil rights law, defunding is always a last resort measure, which must be preceded by a formal determination of noncompliance, mandatory negotiation, and administrative hearing.
In an October 8 message sent to students, faculty, and staff, Swarthmore President Valerie Smith confirmed that OCR had notified administrators “late yesterday” of the expanded inquiry.
The email from Valerie Smith focused on a particular online post, which is the subject of much campus tension at the moment. From Smith’s message, the video was first made and uploaded by an independent group based in Philadelphia, which later resurfaced on the Instagram profile of @swarthmoresjp. Smith expressed his condemnation of the images and added that it is still unknown whether the people running this account are present students of Swarthmore College or not, since the group had been de-recognized from their student status in September 2025.
The college officials stressed that these were the findings of Swarthmore College and not those of any federal investigation.
In addition, the college maintained that it thinks that these latest complaints that prompted the broadened investigation are unfounded. In her letter, Smith assured that Swarthmore College would be cooperating fully with the investigation team while at the same time maintaining free speech and an intimidation-free campus.
