The Trump administration is tightening its grip on efforts to quash pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses, even as a protest over the detention of activist Mahmoud Khalil flared at the president’s New York City residence and resistance efforts continue in the courts and beyond.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights on Friday announced it has begun investigating 45 universities for failing to follow their “civil rights obligations to end the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities.

The federal department of Education says it has opened an investigation into 45 colleges that are part of a program to help students of color.