2023 United States Congress hearing on antisemitism

Last updated

Contents

Committee chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) led the hearing. Virginia Foxx official photo (cropped).jpg
Committee chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) led the hearing.
Edworkforce2.png

On December 5, 2023, the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. The committee called a few university leaders to testify, including the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [1]

In the widely televised hearing, the presidents answered questions about their schools' policies, including those on antisemitism. [2] [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, Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, 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 from the office, following the hearing on antisemitism and allegations of plagiarism. [7] MIT president Sally Kornbluth received a statement of support from the institute's board of trustees and continued to serve as the institute's president. [8]

Background

On October 7, 2023, the Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people, most civilians. In response, Israel began the bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip, killing thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children. [9] [10] Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests ensued, and were sometimes accused of having antisemitic and Islamophobic undertones, respectively. [10] [11] Many universities were criticized for supposedly failing to adequately condemn the Hamas attacks [12] and ensuing alleged antisemitic rhetoric, including Penn and Harvard. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] This became a conservative talking point, described by some commentators as adding to more general right-wing attacks on higher education. [18] [19]

Hearing

The Committee invited the presidents of four major universities to testify about antisemitism on their campuses. [20] Those able to attend included 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. [21] It was later reported that Minouche Shafik of Columbia University was invited to testify before the committee, but she declined due to a "scheduling conflict" with pre-planned speeches at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai. [22] [23]

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. [24] The presidents were each asked whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" violated their rules of bullying and harassment. [2] 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. [25] Each president replied that the answer at their institution depended on context. [26] [27]

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." [26] [3]

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. [3] 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. [2] 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." [28] White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, "Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country." [2] Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, said he found the responses by Magill "unacceptable." [2] 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. [2]

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. [29] 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. [30] Gay resigned as president of Harvard on January 2, 2024. [7] [31] Both resignations were widely reported as political victories for the right. [32] [18] [33] 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". [34] [35]

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. [36] It was also satirized in an episode of the Israeli comedy show Eretz Nehederet , with a guest appearance from American comedian Michael Rapaport. [37]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Harvard University</span> Head of Harvard University

The president of Harvard University is the chief administrator of Harvard University and the ex officio president of the Harvard Corporation. Each is appointed by and is responsible to the other members of that body, who delegate to the president the day-to-day running of the university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States House Committee on Education and Workforce</span> Standing committee of the United States House of Representatives

The Committee on Education and Workforce is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 45 members of this committee. Since 2025, the chair of the Education and Workforce committee is Republican Tim Walberg of Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Harvard University</span>

The history of Harvard University begins in 1636, when Harvard College was founded in New Towne, a settlement founded six years earlier in colonial-era Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the original Thirteen Colonies. Two years later, in 1638, New Towne's name was changed to Cambridge, in honor of Cambridge, England, where many of the Colony's settlers had attended the University of Cambridge. Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.

There has been antisemitism at universities since the medieval period. Antisemitism has manifested in various ways in universities, including in policies and practices such as restricting the admission of Jewish students by a Jewish quota, or ostracism, intimidation, or violence against Jewish students, as well as in the hiring, retention and treatment of Jewish faculty and staff. In some instances, universities have been accused of condoning the development of antisemitic cultures on campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minouche Shafik</span> Egyptian-American economist (born 1962)

Nemat Talaat Shafik, Baroness Shafik, commonly known as Minouche Shafik, is a British-American academic and economist. She served as the president and vice chancellor of the London School of Economics from 2017 to 2023, and then as the 20th president of Columbia University from July 2023 to August 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Penslar</span> Canadian historian

Derek Jonathan Penslar, is an American-Canadian comparative historian with interests in the relationship between modern Israel and diaspora Jewish societies, global nationalist movements, European colonialism, and post-colonial states.

Mary Elizabeth Magill is an American legal scholar. She served as the 9th president of the University of Pennsylvania from 2022 to 2023, as executive vice president and provost of the University of Virginia from 2019 to 2022, and as the 13th dean of Stanford Law School from 2012 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Defamation League</span> International Jewish organization

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is a New York-based international non-governmental organization that was founded to combat antisemitism, as well as other forms of bigotry and discrimination. ADL is also known for its pro-Israel advocacy. Its current CEO is Jonathan Greenblatt. ADL headquarters are located in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States including a Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C., as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe. In its 2019 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $92 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants. Its total operating revenue is reported at $80.9 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Gorenberg</span> American venture capitalist

Mark P. Gorenberg is an American venture capitalist, currently a managing director of San Francisco-based Zetta Venture Partners, the first early-stage venture capital dedicated to investing in Artificial Intelligence. He also serves as the Chair of the MIT Corporation, the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Marc Jeffrey Rowan is an American investor and philanthropist. He has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Apollo Global Management since 2021. He co-founded the firm in 1990 with Josh Harris and Leon Black. As of November 2024, Forbes estimated his net worth at $8.8 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elise Stefanik</span> American politician (born 1984)

Elise Marie Stefanik is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 21st congressional district. As chair of the House Republican Conference from 2021 to 2025, she was the fourth-ranking House Republican. Stefanik's district covers most of the North Country and the Adirondack Mountains, some of the outer suburbs of Utica, and the Capital District in New York. In addition to being the first woman to occupy her House seat, Stefanik was 30 when first elected to the House in 2014, making her the youngest woman elected to Congress at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Kornbluth</span> American microbiologist and academic administrator

Sally Ann Kornbluth is an American cell biologist and academic administrator. She began serving as the 18th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in January 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudine Gay</span> American political scientist and university administrator (born 1970)

Claudine Gay is an American political scientist and academic administrator who is the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University. Gay's research addresses American political behavior, including voter turnout and politics of race and identity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Nadell</span> American historian and academic

Pamela S. Nadell is an American historian, researcher, and author focusing on Jewish history. Former President of the Association for Jewish Studies, she currently holds the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women's and Gender history at American University. Nadell has focused her research on Jewish women and their role within Jewish history as well as in shaping the history of the United States through their role in various social and political movements.

Katherine M. Franke is an American legal scholar who specializes in gender and sexuality law. She was the James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia Law School.

Hirschy Zarchi is an American rabbi and shaliach for the Chabad Hasidic Jewish movement. Since 1997, he has been the founder and head of the Chabad house at Harvard University, one of the largest Chabad campus operations in the United States. He is also Jewish chaplain for students and alumni of Harvard.

Jews have faced antisemitism and discrimination in universities and campuses in the United States, from the founding of universities in the Thirteen Colonies until the present day in varying intensities. From the early 20th century, and until the 1960s, indirect quotas were placed on Jewish admissions, quotas were first placed on Jews by elite universities such Columbia, Harvard and Yale and were prevalent as late as the 1960s in universities such as Stanford. These quotas disappeared in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antisemitism at Columbia University</span>

Antisemitism at Columbia University was prevalent in the first half of the 20th century and has resurged in recent years. In the early 21st century, discourse surrounding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict would sometimes lead to accusations of antisemitism, but these individual controversies were typically isolated.

After the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, donors to colleges and universities in the United States halted donations or cut ties with the schools over their responses to the attacks and the resulting antisemitism on campuses. The reaction has been called a donor backlash, a donor revolt, a donor crisis, and a donor uprising.

The University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Its history began when in 1740, when a group of Philadelphians organized to erect a great preaching hall for George Whitefield, a traveling evangelist. The building was designed and constructed by Edmund Woolley and was the largest building in Philadelphia at the time, drawing thousands of people the first time in which it was preached. In the fall of 1749, Ben Franklin circulated a pamphlet, "Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania," his vision for what he called a "Public Academy of Philadelphia". On June 16, 1755, the College of Philadelphia was chartered, paving the way for the addition of undergraduate instruction.

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Saul, Stephanie; Hartocollis, Anemona (December 6, 2023). "College Presidents Under Fire After Dodging Questions About Antisemitism". The New York Times . Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 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.
  4. 1 2 Watson, Kathryn (December 7, 2023). "House panel opening investigation into Harvard, MIT and UPenn after antisemitism hearing". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  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.
  6. 1 2 Levy, Marc (December 9, 2023). "Liz Magill, UPenn president, resigns after antisemitism testimony draws backlash". Associated Press. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Korn, Melissa; Belkin, Douglas. "Harvard President Resigns After Plagiarism Allegations, Campus Antisemitism Backlash". 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.
  9. ↑ Lyons, Emmet (November 10, 2023). "Israel's "SNL" takes aim at American college campuses - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  10. 1 2 Zinshteyn, Mikhail (November 14, 2023). "Understanding California's college students' protests over Israeli-Palestinian conflict". CalMatters.
  11. ↑ Helmore, Edward (November 28, 2023). "US university presidents to testify before Congress over claims of antisemitic protests on campuses". The Guardian.
  12. ↑ Hartocollis, Anemona; Saul, Stephanie; Patel, Vimal (October 10, 2023). "At Harvard, a Battle Over What Should Be Said About the Hamas Attacks". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  13. ↑ Marcus, Josh (October 10, 2023). "Letter from Harvard group holding Israel 'responsible' for war with Hamas sparks backlash". The Independent. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  14. ↑ Egan, Matt (January 10, 2024). "Harvard student groups issued an anti-Israel statement. CEOs want them blacklisted". CNN. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  15. ↑ Halpert, Madeline (October 10, 2023). "Growing backlash over Harvard students' pro-Palestine letter". BBC News. Archived from the original on October 11, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  16. ↑ Ables, Kelsey (October 17, 2023). "Donors are latest to punish Harvard over response to students' Israel critique" . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  17. ↑ Belkin, Douglas; Ellis, Lindsay (October 11, 2023). "Blaming Israel for Hamas Attacks Sparks Backlash Across U.S., Exposing Deep Rifts" . The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  18. 1 2 Kazanjian, David; Steinlight, Emily (December 19, 2023). "We Must Protect Higher Ed". The Nation. ISSN   0027-8378. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  19. ↑ Nechin, Etan (January 3, 2024). "Jews Shouldn't Celebrate the Resignation of Harvard University's President" . Haaretz. Archived from the original on January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  20. ↑ Karni, Annie (December 12, 2023). "To Testify or Not to Testify in Congress? Your Job Could Hang in the Balance". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  21. ↑ Hicks, Maggie (December 3, 2023). "In 5-Hour Hearing, Republican Lawmakers Chastise College Leaders for Campus Antisemitism". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  22. ↑ Bernstein, Noah. "Shafik declined to testify before Congress, citing a scheduling conflict. But Columbia remains under national scrutiny". Columbia Daily Spectator. Archived from the original on December 26, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  23. ↑ Karni, Annie (December 12, 2023). "To Testify or Not to Testify in Congress? Your Job Could Hang in the Balance". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Virginia Foxx on House Investigation of Elite Schools over Rampant Antisemitism". House Committee on Education & the Workforce. December 9, 2023. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  25. ↑ Haslett, Cheyenne; Hensley, Sarah Beth (December 5, 2023). "Presidents of universities grilled on efforts to counter antisemitism on campus". ABC News . Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  26. 1 2 Damiano, Mike; Burns, Hilary (December 6, 2023). "University presidents' responses to genocide question at congressional hearing draw furor". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  27. ↑ Jackson, Herb (December 13, 2023). "Transcript: What Harvard, MIT and Penn presidents said at antisemitism hearing". Roll Call. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  28. ↑ Guilfoil, Kyla (December 6, 2023). "White House condemns university presidents after contentious congressional hearing on antisemitism". NBC News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  29. ↑ Saul, Stephanie; Blinder, Alan; Hartocollis, Anemona; Farrell, Maureen (December 9, 2023). "Penn's Leadership Resigns Amid Controversies Over Antisemitism". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  30. ↑ Kochi, Sudiksha (December 21, 2023). "House Republicans investigating plagiarism allegations against Harvard President Claudine Gay". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  31. ↑ "Harvard president Claudine Gay's resignation letter in full". The Guardian. January 2, 2024. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on January 2, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  32. ↑ McHugh, Calder (January 2, 2024). "How the Right Toppled Harvard's President". POLITICO. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  33. ↑ Alafriz, Olivia (January 2, 2024). "Republicans claim victory for Harvard president's resignation". POLITICO. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  34. ↑ Christenson, Josh (January 2, 2024). "Harvard President Claudine Gay resignation 'just the beginning of reckoning': Stefanik". New York Post. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  35. ↑ "New York Post: Harvard President Claudine Gay's resignation 'just the beginning of reckoning' amid House antisemitism probe: Stefanik". Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. January 2, 2024. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  36. ↑ Herbert, Geoff (December 10, 2023). "'SNL' mocks Elise Stefanik hearing with college presidents on antisemitism". Syracuse.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  37. ↑ Kornick, Lindsay (December 13, 2023). "Comedian Michael Rapaport stars in Israeli 'Harry Potter' parody of college presidents' antisemitism testimony". Fox News . Archived from the original on January 1, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.