# Understanding the COLUMBIA Act of 2024

This bill would create a new federal program that places independent monitors on college campuses to track and report on antisemitism. The Secretary of Education would identify universities that have received federal funding and have documented high levels of antisemitic incidents, then assign third-party monitors to those schools. These monitors would be paid for by the colleges themselves and would work under agreements that spell out their specific responsibilities and authority.

The monitors would have three main jobs. First, they'd operate according to rules set up between the Department of Education and each college. Second, they'd write quarterly reports that get published publicly on both the college's website and the Department of Education's website, describing how well the school is doing at reducing antisemitism on campus. Third, they'd submit annual reports to Congress, the Secretary of Education, state and local governments, and the college itself, including recommendations for policies, actions, and disciplinary measures the school should consider taking.

In practical terms, this means colleges with significant antisemitism problems would have federal oversight in the form of an outside monitor watching their campus climate and publicly reporting on their progress. The public reporting aspect is significant—students, parents, and community members would be able to see these quarterly assessments. For colleges, this represents a new compliance requirement and an ongoing expense, since they'd have to pay for the monitor's work. For Jewish students and their families, it could mean more institutional attention to antisemitic incidents, though the actual effectiveness would depend on how seriously colleges respond to the monitors' recommendations.

COLUMBIA Act of 2024

Torres, Ritchie

College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability Act of 2024 or the COLUMBIA Act of 2024This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to establish a program to appoint third-party anti-Semitism monitors at certain institutions of higher education (IHEs). Specifically, ED must establish this program to appoint a monitor at an IHE that (1) has a high incidence of anti-Semitic activity (based on data received from ED's Office for Civil Rights), and (2) receives federal funds for higher education.&nbsp;ED must develop an anti-Semitism monitorship agreement that (1) designates the terms and conditions of the monitorship, and (2) requires the&nbsp;IHE to provide for the monitor's reasonable expenses.&nbsp;The bill requires the monitor to<ul><li>operate under the monitorship agreement developed by ED and entered into with the IHE;&nbsp;</li><li>provide publicly available quarterly reports that evaluate the IHE's progress in combating&nbsp;anti-Semitism on campus; and</li><li>provide annual reports to Congress, ED, state and local governments (as needed), and the IHE that include recommendations for actions, policies, and sanctions to prevent and reduce anti-Semitism at the IHE.</li></ul>