These so-called elite universities have a glaring anti-Semitism problem

Two days after the most disastrous testimony in congressional history revealed the ugly anti-Semitism is rampant on America’s college campusesThe Education and Workforce Committee, which I chair, has opened investigations into Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT.

At first, I didn’t know what to expect.

So-called elite universities are a black box to 99% of the American public.

However, we knew that Jewish students needed support from Congress and that these postsecondary institutions were failing in their moral leadership.

On Thursday, after a year of investigations at universities across the country, we released a shocking 325-page report detailing the committee’s findings — based on more than 400,000 pages of documents, hearing testimony and transcribed interviews.

What we found was a massive, systemic failure by university administrators to respond to the anti-Semitic displays plaguing their campuses.

Moreover, internal documents show that university leaders saw anti-Semitism as a public relations issue, not a pressing attack on the welfare of their Jewish students.

The report shares new revelations about Harvard, where former Pres Claudine Gay constantly shaped university messages behind the scenes to appease student protesters.

Aversion to responsibility

In one case, she approved a request by the dean of Harvard Medical School to remove the description of Hamas terrorism as “violent” from Harvard’s initial draft statement on the October 7 assault on Israel October 7.

About 1,200 Israelis were killed that day at the hands of Hamas.

Harvard’s decision not to characterize this terrorism as “violent” is inconceivable.

In another instance, Gay refused to label the abolitionist slogan “From the River to the Sea” as anti-Semitic, despite its obvious call for the annihilation of the state of Israel and the extermination of its Jewish population.

Fellow Harvard leaders acknowledged that the phrase carried “genocidal implications” and compared the protests to KKK rallies, but Gay determined in a private email that labeling the phrase as such would “prompt (people to ask) what are we doing about that is discipline. .”

The idea that anti-Semitic behavior can go unchallenged because those in authority have been unwilling to pursue disciplinary action is deeply offensive.

Moreover, these examples show that the former president’s inability to act decisively and with moral clarity was as pronounced in private sessions as it was before Congress.

No wonder he lost his job.

After reading additional internal documents, I realized that aversion to accountability is the rule at so-called elite universities, not the exception.

Northwestern, Columbia, UCLA and others have failed to enforce their rules and hold students accountable for vile anti-Semitism.

In perhaps the most egregious case, UCLA allowed an illegal camp to turn into anti-Semitic violence.

Radical protesters denied Jewish students access to campus through certain campus “checkpoints,” a violation of the federal Civil Rights Act.

UCLA police messages now definitively prove that officers were told to “stand by” as the camp grew, in violation of university rules and the law.

Further revelations in the reports detail the depth of ideological groupthink and emotional incontinence among Hamas-sympathetic faculty at several institutions.

When confronted with an opposing point of view in a meeting, the chairman of the executive committee of the Senate of Columbia University said histrionicly, “This is my meeting, my meeting, my meeting.”

At Northwestern, a teacher who chose to lead negotiations with camp organizers advocated a boycott of Sabra hummus in the school cafeteria for its association with Israel and touched on “themes of cultural appropriation.”

I’m not sure what that means, but apparently it made enough sense for Northwestern’s provost, Kathleen Hagerty, to approve a boycott of Sabra.

“The Purveyor of Hate”

Finally, the report highlights a common fear of congressional surveillance by universities.

In a telling moment between friends at a board meeting, Gay attacked Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whom he described as a “purveyor of hate” and “supporter of proud boys” — an accusation downright slanderous and completely out of touch with reality.

So-called leaders like Gay disdain oversight on the one hand while showing extreme bias behind closed doors on the other, a contradiction that only validates the commission’s investigations.

To Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, UCLA, and every other university that has failed to address anti-Semitism: You are in the know.

Ivory towers are in a perilous position and not beyond the reach of Congress.

Irresponsible leadership, emotionally fragile outbursts, hummus culture wars and baseless ad hominems – the findings in this report describe so-called prestigious universities as much as anything else.

In April, on the steps of the Lowe Memorial Library in Columbia, I declared, “Inmates run an asylum.”

Today, I offer you a little addendum: it’s more like the kids run the kindergarten.

Republican Virginia Foxx is representing North Carolina.