Hallelujah. Israel. Usa.

High tension.

War.

Protests.

Like these on the campus of Columbia University and these at New York's Cooper Union, increasingly common at American universities. Now the feds are getting involved.

It's an expectation that our college campuses are safe for our students and that we're doing everything in our power to protect students and protect them for the most basic right, the right to learn on our our school campuses.

Us Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, announcing investigations into seven institutions, including Colombia, Cornell, and Penn, after receiving complaints about their response to anti-Semitic or Islamophobic incidents on campus.

Students need to feel safe. Families need to feel comfortable leaving their children on campus or in their schools. We're not going to tolerate any form of anti-Semitism or Islamophobia on our school campuses.

The investigations come just a few days after the White House called for a fight against rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

We must, without equivocation, denounce anti-Semitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia. The main.

Challenge for administrators, though, how to strike a balance between students' free speech and their safety.

We do want free speech on campuses. We want our students to be able to express themselves, and they need to be in an environment where it's okay to disagree with someone else. It crosses the line when it becomes unsafe.

Last month, Colombia's President promised to both defend the right to free speech, but that no political debate or division can justify anti-Semitism or any form of bigotry. Penn told the NBA it's taking clear and comprehensive action to prevent, address and respond to anti-Semitism, and it will vigilantly combat all forms of hate. While Cardona wouldn't speak to specifics of any individual investigation, he said the Department of Education is focused on providing administrators the tools they need to spot and stop harassment and discrimination. He wants students to know their concerns are heard.

We have a responsibility to protect you and to make sure that the learning environment gives you the opportunity to be unapologetically who you are. You should not have to hide who you are, your background, your religious belief because of fear of being attacked or harassed.

The agency pledged weekly updates on open investigations and ultimately may issue recommendations and new guidelines to the schools involved.

I.

Want to bring in Noah, who is joining us now. Noah talked to us about these schools, what they said about being investigated, responsibility and accountability here for some of these incidents. Talk us through it.

The secretary seems more concerned moving forward with compliance and keeping these campuses safe, avoiding violence, avoiding these really awful conflicts between different groups, and of course, the hate crimes. He's focused more on giving schools guidance and what he can do to make sure that they know where the line is between free speech and something that gets into dangerous territory. We also should note that we heard from three other universities and districts that we talked about. We got similar statements, condemnating hate from Wellesley College, Lafayette, and the Mays School district. So moving forward, I think a lot of schools across the country are on alert trying to strike that balance, Halley, but it's very, very difficult with the charged emotions.

Thanks for watching. Stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media.