College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability Act of 2024 or the COLUMBIA Act of 2024
This 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.
ED must develop an anti-Semitism monitorship agreement that (1) designates the terms and conditions of the monitorship, and (2) requires the IHE to provide for the monitor's reasonable expenses.
The bill requires the monitor to
operate under the monitorship agreement developed by ED and entered into with the IHE;
provide publicly available quarterly reports that evaluate the IHE's progress in combating anti-Semitism on campus; and
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.
