Three university presidents defended their responses to rising antisemitism in a House committee hearing Tuesday. Many have faced scrutiny as they struggle to balance free speech with student safety.
The presidents of Harvard, UPenn and MIT testified on Capitol Hill about rising antisemitism on their campuses, an issue that has plagued institutions of higher learning across the country in recent months.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s military response in Gaza have fueled tensions, protests and even violence across the U.S., with reports of both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents surging dramatically since then.
A recent report by the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International found that while a majority of Jewish students felt physically and emotionally safe on campus before Oct. 7, those numbers have dropped to 46% and 33%, respectively.
Claudine Gay of Harvard, Elizabeth Magill of Penn and Sally Kornbluth of MIT spoke before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce for several hours on Tuesday, condemning the rise in antisemitic incidents and defending their administrations’ responses.
All three — who started their jobs either this year or last — acknowledged and vowed to tackle the parallel surge in Islamophobia and other forms of hate as well.
“Today’s hearing is focused on antisemitism and its direct impact on the Jewish community,” Magill said in her opening remarks. “But history teaches us that where antisemitism goes unchecked, other forms of hate spread and ultimately can threaten democracy.”
The presidents were joined by Pamela Nadell, a professor of history and Jewish studies at American University, who provided context on the history of antisemitism in the U.S. as well as the Biden administration’s efforts to combat it.
The hearing — which was titled “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism” — turned combative at times. Republican lawmakers grilled the administrators on topics like ideological diversity, foreign university funding and specific disciplinary actions.
Committee chair Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., described the hearing in her opening remarks as an opportunity for leaders to “answer to and atone for the many specific instances of vitriolic, hate-filled antisemitism on your college campuses that have denied students the safe learning environment they’re due.”
She added that the witnesses were speaking not only to lawmakers but to the students who are looking to them for protection, noting that several students affiliated with Jewish and pro-Israel campus groups at those schools were sitting in the audience.
Jon Fansmith, senior vice president for government relations and national engagement at the American Council on Education, told NPR beforehand that a hearing focused on retroactively criticizing a few institutions’ tough choices isn’t likely to actually help students.
But he says it could still benefit the public by painting a better picture of the challenges facing universities, especially when compounded by pressure from on and off campus.
“I think having a greater understanding of what’s actually at play here, people will be, frankly, I think, a little bit more sympathetic to the choices some of these leaders have made,” Fansmith says. “And if that’s what comes out of this hearing, then that’s a net positive.” Universities have long struggled to balance free speech and student safety
Tuesday’s hearing cast a spotlight on a much larger problem, as university leaders nationwide navigate the balance between protecting free speech and keeping students safe. All three witnesses spoke of that challenge.
