US Congress hearings on campus antisemitism during the Gaza war

During the Gaza war, the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce has held numerous hearings with leaders of US universities over allegations of antisemitism at universities in relation to Gaza solidarity protests.[1][2]

The series of hearings began on December 5, 2023, when the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing with the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[3] After the hearing, the committee called for the resignation of the presidents and announced a Congressional investigation "with the full force of subpoena power" into the same issues.[4] Four days later, on December 9, 2023, University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill submitted her resignation, partly in response to backlash resulting from the hearing.[5][6] Less than one month later, on January 2, 2024, Harvard University's president Claudine Gay resigned amid allegations of plagiarism.[7] MIT president Sally Kornbluth received a statement of support from the Board of Trustees after the hearing and did not resign.[8]

On April 17, 2024, Columbia University president Minouche Shafik, co-chairs of its board of trustees David Greenwald and Claire Shipman, and a co-chair of Columbia's Task Force on Antisemitism, David Schizer, testified before the committee in Washington DC; students had established the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on campus in New York City earlier that morning.[9] Columbia president Minouche Shafik resigned months later, after summoning the New York City Police Department to campus twice to arrest students participating in Gaza solidarity protests.[10]

There have been no such Congressional hearings on anti-Palestinian racism or Islamophobia on college campuses.[11]

Background

Further information: 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians. In response, Israel began the bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip, killing thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children.[12][13] Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests ensued, and were sometimes accused of having antisemitic and Islamophobic undertones, respectively.[13][14] Many universities were criticized for supposedly failing to adequately condemn the Hamas attacks[15] and ensuing alleged antisemitic rhetoric, including Penn and Harvard.[16][17][18][19][20] This became a conservative talking point, described by some commentators as adding to more general right-wing attacks on higher education.[21][22]

Hearings

December 2023 hearing with presidents of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT

The Committee invited the presidents of four major universities to testify about antisemitism on their campuses.[23] Those able to attend included Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, Claudine Gay of Harvard, and Sally Kornbluth of MIT.[6] The three presidents were joined by Pamela Nadell, a professor of history at American University.[24] It was later reported that Minouche Shafik of Columbia University was invited to testify before the committee, but declined due to a "scheduling conflict" with pre-planned speeches at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai.[25][26]

Committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) led the hearing on December 5, and noted that the rise of antisemitism on college campuses is disturbing and threatening to Jewish students, faculty, and staff.[27] Phrases such as "from the river to the sea" and "globalize the intifada" were described as "calling for the genocide of Jews," and the presidents were each asked whether such language violated their rules of bullying and harassment.[1] During the hearing, when Kornbluth, who is Jewish, said she had not heard any calls for genocide, Rep. Elise Stefanik claimed that chants of "Intifada" (Arabic) may be considered a "call for the genocide" of Jewish people.[28] Each president replied that the answer at their institution depended on context.[29][30]

In a specific exchange, Stefanik asked Harvard president Gay: "At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment, yes or no?" Gay answered, "It can be, depending on the context."[29][2]

Reactions and further developments

Immediately after the hearing, Stefanik and other members of the committee called for the three presidents to resign, later publishing a written letter calling for their resignation signed by 70 members of Congress.[2] The following day, the committee announced a Congressional investigation "with the full force of subpoena power" into the same issues.[4]

The responses of all three presidents drew public criticism for being evasive.[1] Gay released a statement noting that some "have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students."[31] White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, "Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country."[1] Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, said he found the responses by Magill "unacceptable."[1] Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, noted that though the university presidents' answers were "legally correct", it was frustrating "to see them discover free speech scruples while under fire at a congressional hearing," rather than in a more principled way.[1]

Magill, who had already been under pressure in October over the university's initial response, resigned as president of Penn four days after the hearing.[32] A few days later, a series of allegations of plagiarism were levied against Gay by conservative activist Christopher Rufo and journalist Aaron Sibarium, followed the next week by an announcement by the Committee that it would open an additional probe into the allegations.[33] Gay resigned as president of Harvard on January 2, 2024.[7][34] Both resignations were widely reported as political victories for the right.[35][21][36] After Gay's resignation, Stefanik declared this was "just the beginning of the reckoning," and that "Republicans will carry out a 'long overdue' cleansing of higher education".[37][38]

April 2024 hearing with leaders from Columbia

See also: Gaza Solidarity Encampment (Columbia University), Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus protests during the Gaza war, and Antisemitism at Columbia University

Shafik had previously been invited to attend the November 2023 United States Congress hearing on antisemitism but had declined, citing a scheduling conflict.[39]

On April 17, 2024, hours after student protesters established the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the Butler Lawns on Columbia's campus in New York City, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, co-chairs of the board of trustees Claire Shipman and David Greenwald, and co-chair of Columbia's Task Force on Antisemitism David Schizer testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in Washington DC regarding allegations of antisemitism at Columbia University.[40][9][39] According to The New York Times, Shafik established a makeshift headquarters to address the protests at the law firm of Covington & Burling near the White House that morning.[41]

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) asked Shafik about the terms "ashkenormativity" and "folx."[9] Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) cited the "D" score that the Anti-Defamation League gave Columbia.[9] After asking Shafik if she was familiar with Genesis 12:3, Rep. Rick W. Allen (R-Ga.) asked her "Do you want Columbia University to be cursed by God?"[9]

May 2025 hearing with presidents of Cal Poly, DePaul, and Haverford

The presidents of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, DePaul University, and Haverford College testified before the House of Representatives.[42]

July 2025 hearing with leaders of UC Berkeley, Georgetown and CUNY

On July 15, 2025, Georgetown University’s interim president, Robert Groves; City University of New York's chancellor, Félix V Matos Rodríguez; and UC Berkeley’s chancellor, Rich Lyons appeared before the House of Representatives.[43]

Criticisms

There have been no such Congressional hearings on anti-Palestinian racism or Islamophobia on college campuses.[11]

Democratic legislators criticized the July 25 hearing as "political theater" as the Trump administration gutted agencies of the federal government that protect civil rights.[43] "I'd be remiss if I did not point out that this is our ninth hearing on antisemitism in 18 months," said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virg.), continuing: "I'll also note that since this committee's first antisemitism hearing in December 2023 we have not held a single hearing addressing racism, xenophobia, sexism, Islamophobia or other challenges affecting other student groups on American college campuses."[43]

The hearing was portrayed in the cold open of the December 9 episode of Saturday Night Live Season 49, in which Chloe Troast played Stefanik.[44] It was also satirized in an episode of the Israeli comedy show Eretz Nehederet, with a guest appearance from American comedian and pro-Israel advocate Michael Rapaport.[45]

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b c Hensley, Sarah Beth (December 6, 2023). "Harvard's president answers backlash over response to calls for 'genocide of Jews'". ABC News. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Ma, Annie (December 12, 2023). "How the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testified to Congress on antisemitism". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
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  5. ^ Choma, Russ (December 10, 2023). "Penn President Resigns Over Disastrous Anti-Semitism Hearing". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on December 17, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
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  7. ^ a b Korn, Melissa; Belkin, Douglas. "Harvard President Resigns After Plagiarism Allegations, Campus Antisemitism Backlash". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  8. ^ Cochran, Lexi Lonas (December 8, 2023). "MIT board announces support for university president after backlash to House testimony". The Hill. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
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