WASHINGTON, D.C. – Administrators at ten universities must detail what policies, procedures, and concrete measures their institutions will be implementing to prevent a resurgence of disruptions on campus, antisemitic harassment, and intimidation of Jewish students returning to campus this fall, demanded Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05) in a letter today.
In April, House Speaker Mike Johnson selected Chairman Smith and Chairwoman Foxx as two of the leaders of a House-wide Committee investigation into the rise in antisemitic activity on American university campuses. The letter to the college administrators today follows months of investigations by the Ways and Means Committee and the Education and the Workforce Committee that have uncovered a deeply worrisome, systemic culture of antisemitism at a large number of American universities across the country.
From the letters:
“Congressional hearings since October 7th featured shocking testimony revealing the horrific first-hand experiences of Jewish students simply trying to receive an education on campus. Since then, however, the University has had the entire summer to plan for the upcoming school year. As such, we expect that your institution will be ready, willing, and able to prevent such antisemitic conduct and disruptions that violate campus policies and the law and, when such conduct cannot be prevented, hold those responsible for such conduct accountable with real consequences.
…
“Moreover, we have been concerned to see empty discipline and a lack of enforcement, signified by the fact that many who were arrested on July 24th in Washington D.C., and across college campuses during the academic year, were released and saw charges dismissed. We also have documented evidence that many students from the universities currently under investigation traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in these protests, which ultimately turned violent. The problem of antisemitic harassment, disruption, and violence has not been resolved. Based on the evidence available, these disruptions are likely to return to campuses this fall and you must be prepared to act.”
Recipients of the letter include: Barnard College, the University of California Berkeley, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and the University of California Los Angeles.
BACKGROUND:
- The Committee on Ways and Means has broad jurisdiction over the Internal Revenue Code, which includes the generous tax-exemption that most universities receive under Section 501 of the Code, the university endowment tax under Section 4968, and the excise tax on executive compensation for tax-exempt organizations under Section 4960.
- The Committee on Education and the Workforce has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
READ: Four Key Moments: Hearing on Tax-Exempt Funding of Antisemitism
READ: Six Key Moments: Hearing on Antisemitism on College Campuses