May 28 (UPI) -- Federal funding could be withheld from U.S. universities that don't abide by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said on Wednesday.
McMahon was interviewed by CNBC on Wednesday morning regarding President Donald Trump's call to withhold all federal funding to Harvard University, threatening to revoke its non-profit status for failing to protect Jewish students and halting its intake of international students.
"When we looked at different aspects of what Harvard was doing relative to anti-Semitism on its campuses, they were not enforcing Title VI the way it should be," McMahon told CNBC.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act "prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance," according to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
"If a recipient of federal assistance is found to have discriminated and voluntary compliance cannot be achieved, the federal agency providing the assistance should either initiate fund termination proceedings or refer the matter to the Department of Justice for appropriate legal action," the DOJ says.
