The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division is opening an antisemitism investigation into the University of Washington after a student group at the school hosted a fundraiser for the “Lebanese resistance” group, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said Monday.
“Tomorrow, a student group — SUPER UW — is holding a fundraising event for the “Lebanese resistance.” This group has a history of violent antisemitic activity on University of Washington’s campus,” Dhillon wrote on X Monday.
“On Friday, I authorized a Civil Rights investigation of UW’s handling of antisemitism!”
The University is cooperating with the investigation and “strongly and unequivocally opposes antisemitism in all forms,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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School officials quickly distanced themselves from the group that organized the event, noting that SUPER UW was no longer affiliated with the University and that the event was being held off campus.
“The off-campus event referenced publicly appears to have been organized by a group falsely claiming affiliation with the University of Washington. That group’s registration was suspended in June 2024 and permanently revoked in May 2025,” Victor Balta, the school’s Vice President of Communications, told Fox News Digital.
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The school cut ties permanently in May when SUPER UW, an acronym for Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return, took over a campus building resulting in property damage and arrests.
School President Ana Mari Cauce condemned the protesters at the time, calling their actions an “illegal building occupation.”
The school event went as far as trying to get Facebook to stop the group from using the UW name.
“We also notified Meta last year of this group’s unauthorized use of the University’s name on social media, and appealed Meta’s refusal to address this issue on March 10. That appeal is pending,” Balsa told Fox News Digital.
The University of Washington has already faced a Trump administration antisemitism review after anti-Israel protests last May, the same protests that led to SUPER UW’s campus expulsion.
Fox News Digital contacted the DOJ and Meta, which operates Facebook, for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
