College Presidents Face Cross Examination at Hill Hearing on Campus Antisemitism

Three college presidents faced sharp questioning on their responses to campus antisemitism at a congressional hearing Wednesday. 

The House Education and Workforce Committee hearing—which touched on topics similar to those discussed in a December 2023 hearing that led to the resignation of Harvard President Claudine Gay—featured the presidents of California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo, California; Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania; and DePaul University in Chicago.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who was one of Gay’s fiercest questioners in the 2023 hearing, was a harsh critic Wednesday as well.

Stefanik accused Wendy Raymond, the president of Haverford College, of not disciplining student groups that made anti-Israel statements that could be interpreted as calls to violence.

“Haverford still doesn’t get it,” the New York lawmaker said. 

“This is completely unacceptable, and it’s why this committee has stepped in, because higher education has failed to address the scourge of antisemitism, putting Jewish students at risk at Haverford and other campuses across the country.”

But not everyone on the committee was on board with zeroing in solely on campus antisemitism. 

Ranking member Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., argued antisemitism is one of many forms of discrimination on campuses, and claimed that President Donald Trump’s administration was dismantling the tools to fight it.

“This administration is in the process of dismantling the Office of Civil Rights, and it raises reasonable doubt about the plans for addressing antisemitism on campus, as well as racism, homophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, or the needs of students with disabilities,” said Scott. “Again, we should be focused on trying to solve the problem, rather than just complaining about it.”

Among the other witnesses was American Civil Liberties Union lawyer David Cole, who played devil’s advocate as he argued for the need to protect abhorrent speech from government interference.

“Antisemitic speech, while lamentable, is constitutionally protected. Just like racist speech, sexist speech, and homophobic speech is,” said Cole. 

“The Supreme Court protected the rights of the Nazi Party to march … it protected the rights of the Westboro Baptist Church to hurl homophobic slurs at a military funeral,” he recounted.

Beyond just antisemitic speech, the congressmen also pressed the college presidents on their responses to targeted violence against Jewish students, as well as protesters’ encampments. 

Michael Kaminsky, a Jewish student at DePaul University who was brutally assaulted by a masked assailant, was on hand as his university’s president, Robert Manuel, spoke. 

Manuel grew timid as Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., accosted him for urging students simply to avoid a protest encampment on campus and not calling in police for weeks.

“I would agree with you that we need to do better,” said Manuel.

 “I don’t think the issue is more policies, I think the issue is action,” McClain said in reply to his request for understanding.

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