A federal task force to combat antisemitism will visit the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus along with nine other U.S. universities across the country as part of investigations into allegations of antisemitism tied to pro-Palestinian protests last year, the Department of Justice said Friday.

The U's Twin Cities campus is also among five institutions under a new investigation by the federal Department of Education for antisemitism. It is not clear whether the two federal efforts are related.

The U learned of the task force's impending visit on Friday, said Jake Ricker, a University of Minnesota spokesperson.

"We are confident in our approach to combating hate and bias on our campus and we will always fully cooperate with any review related to these topics," a statement from the U said on Friday. "The University continues to stand firmly against antisemitism."

It went on to say that the U has and will continue to "respond promptly and fully" to all reports of harassment, intimidation or bias against Jewish students or other community members "in accordance with our university values, our own policies and our responsibility under the law."

The federal task force is looking into "allegations that the schools may have failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination" and will also go to Columbia, George Washington University, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, New York University, Northwestern, the University of Southern California, UCLA and UC Berkeley.

The department didn't say when the visits would happen or which alleged incidents the task force would look into.

The task force, which was first announced Feb. 3, was formed in response to President Donald Trump's Jan. 29 executive order on combatting antisemitism.

The task force will meet with university leadership, affected students and staff, local law enforcement and community members "as it considers whether remedial action is warranted."

Each of the 10 campuses has either been subject to a Department of Education civil rights antisemitism complaint or seen multiple internal reports of antisemitism as demonstrations picked up following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's war in Gaza. They all have significant Jewish populations.

There have also been accusations of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian bias at each campus since 2023, though it's not clear whether there is a task force looking into them.

The new federal investigation into antisemitism at five universities, announced in early February, came after a U law professor and former regent last winter filed a complaint about antisemitism in the U's College of Liberal Arts. According to the Department of Education's website, the investigation is still open. The other schools included on that list were Columbia, Northwestern, Portland State University and UC Berkeley.

Students have held several protests at the U, including a pro-Palestinian protest that barricaded Morrill Hall last fall.

This story contains material from the Los Angeles Times.