"Beyond the Ivy League: Stopping the Spread of Antisemitism on American Campuses"
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities
2025-05-07
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Source: Congress.gov
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creating a hostile environment through their indifference to the harassment of Jewish students. We'll hear today about anti-Semitism at three institutions, Haverford College, DePaul University, and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The incidents we'll be discussing with our witnesses today are truly appalling and shameful. Take Haverford, for instance, a small liberal arts college located in suburbs outside Philadelphia. From the time of October 7th, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel to the present, the Haverford administration has consistently refused to act against severe antisemitic harassments on campus. It has refused to even condemn these incidents of harassment or hostility in a clear, unequivocal statement, much less meaningfully discipline the students responsible for these incidents. Instead, the university has exhibited an all-consuming commitment to dialogue, even when that dialogue is dominated by anti-Semitic conspiracy theories or calls to violence. What's more? Haverford employs faculty members who engage in blatant antisemitism with no apparent consequences. For example, one professor declared online that Zionism is Nazism. The Haverford administration's failure to address antisemitism on campus is taking a painful toll on students, faculty, and staff. Without objection, I'd like to enter into the record a letter from Haverford's Shabbat House that was sent just yesterday, yesterday afternoon, to the Haverford Board of Managers.
The letter says, under this administration, Jewish students have been marginalized, ostracized, and at times outright attacked. Meanwhile, their pain has been met with indifference, end quote. was caught with their early statement in the letter where it says, we've never spoken out against the college. We've never publicly criticized its leadership. We've simply tried to serve to support Haverford and its students in every way we could. But today, we can no longer remain silent. I submit this for the record. And without objection, it's submitted. At DePaul, meanwhile, there have been multiple yet, yes, multiple instances of fiscal violence against Jewish students. Last May, the university permitted a multi-week encampment that was so disruptive and violent that the nearby elementary school had to cancel recess. After finally forcibly shutting down the encampment, DePaul still ended up giving in to agitators' demands. We have a student here today who had surgery as a result of the attack on him and a colleague. And at Cal Poly, at least one faculty member has been complicit in harassing Jewish students who are trying to attend an Israel-related special lecture. My colleagues and I are committed to holding these three universities and others accountable for perpetuating anti-Semitism. We're committed to enacting policies that create a safe environment for Jewish students, one in which faculty, staff, and administrators are held accountable for the antisemitism that consumes their campuses. I look forward to hearing your testimony today, as it will certainly inform this committee's future work. With that, I yield to the ranking member for an opening statement.
The month of May marks Jewish Heritage Month. It's when we celebrate the generations of Jewish Americans who have made incredible contributions to this country. This month, we reaffirm our commitment to combat the rise of anti-Semitism both on and off college campuses. No one should be discriminated against because of who they are or how they worship. and all students have the right to learn in a safe environment free from discrimination in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Unfortunately, instead of properly enforcing Title VI, this committee is holding the eighth hearing describing the problem and complaining about anti-Semitism on college campuses instead of taking any meaningful action to actually solve the problem. Curiously, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have not had any hearings addressing other forms of discrimination and hate, such as racism, Title IX gender violations, Islamophobia, homophobia, or the challenges of meeting the needs of students with disabilities. And this is particularly concerning since we know from reports from the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights that on January 11th of last year, there were 12,000 open cases alleging discrimination and violation of Title VI, 12,000. And of those 12,000 cases, only 144 could be Title VI violations involving antisemitism. And we know the solution of this problem is better enforcement of Title VI. So instead of holding another problem, another hearing, talking about the problem, which complains about the problem, we ought to be holding a hearing on what is going on in the Office of Civil Rights, OCR, the Department of Education.
This administration is in the process of dismantling the Office of Civil Rights, and it raises reasonable doubt about the plans for addressing anti-Semitism on campus, as well as racism, homophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, or the needs of students with disabilities. Again, we should be focused on trying to solve the problem rather than just complaining about it. For centuries, college campuses have served as centers for debate and discussion on polarizing issues in our country. Unfortunately, this also means that they can become flashpoints for controversy. But it is fundamental for us to understand that we must protect student safety while also fostering college campuses as a place of learning where difficult topics can be discussed civilly without fear of retribution. typically and historically played a vital role in preserving that balance.
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