Two days after the most disastrous testimony in congressional history revealed the ugly antisemitism running rampant on America’s college campuses, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, which I chair, 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 for 99% of the American public.
However, I knew that Jewish students needed support from Congress, and that these postsecondary institutions were derelict in their moral leadership.
On Thursday, after a year of investigations into universities across the country, I released a shocking 325-page report detailing the committee’s findings — based on over 400,000 pages of documents, hearing testimony and transcribed interviews.
What we discovered was a massive, systemic failure by university administrators to respond to the antisemitic displays roiling their campuses.
What’s more, internal documents show university leaders viewed antisemitism as a public relations issue, not a pressing assault on the well-being of their Jewish students.
The report shares new revelations about Harvard, where former president Claudine Gay consistently shaped university messaging behind the scenes to appease student protesters.
Aversion to accountability
In one instance, she approved a request by the dean of Harvard Medical School to remove the description of Hamas’ terrorism as “violent” from the draft of Harvard’s initial statement about the Oct. 7 assault on Israel Oct. 7.
Around 1,200 Israelis were murdered that day at the hands of Hamas.
Harvard’s decision not to characterize this terrorism as “violent” is unthinkable.
In another instance, Gay refused to label the eliminationist slogan “From the River to the Sea” as antisemitic, despite its obvious call for the annihilation of the state of Israel and extermination of its Jewish population.
Fellow Harvard leaders admitted the phrase contained “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 we’re doing about it, i.e. discipline.”
The notion that antisemitic conduct may go unchallenged because those in authority were 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 just as pronounced in private meetings as it was before Congress.
It’s no wonder she lost her job.
After reading additional internal documents, I realized aversion to accountability is the rule at so-called elite universities, not the exception.
Northwestern, Columbia, UCLA and others all failed to enforce their rules and hold students accountable for vile antisemitism.
In perhaps the most egregious case, UCLA allowed an unlawful encampment to escalate into antisemitic violence.
Radical protesters denied Jewish students access to campus through certain “checkpoints” on campus, a violation of the federal Civil Rights Act.
UCLA police messages now definitively prove that officers were informed to “hold off” as the encampment grew, in violation of university rules and the law.
Further report revelations detail the depth of ideological groupthink and emotional incontinence among Hamas-sympathizing faculty at multiple institutions.
When confronted with an opposing viewpoint in a meeting, the executive committee chair of Columbia’s University Senate histrionically ranted, “This is my meeting, my meeting, my meeting.”
At Northwestern, a professor who had chosen to lead negotiations with encampment organizers argued for a boycott of Sabra hummus in the school cafeteria for its association with Israel and touched on “cultural appropriation themes.”
I’m unsure what that even means, but apparently it made enough sense for Northwestern’s provost, Kathleen Hagerty, to approve of a Sabra boycott.
‘Purveyor of hate’
Finally, the report outlines a shared fear of congressional oversight by universities.
In a telling moment among friends in a board meeting, Gay lashed out at Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whom she described as a “purveyor of hate” and “supporter of proudboys” — a downright slanderous accusation and completely removed from reality.
So-called leaders like Gay disparage oversight on the one hand, while showing extreme bias behind closed doors on the other, a contradiction that only validates the committee’s investigations.
To Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, UCLA, and every other university that failed to address antisemitism: You are on notice.
The ivory towers are in a perilous position, and they are not beyond congressional action.
Unaccountable leadership, emotionally fragile outbursts, hummus culture wars, and baseless ad hominems — the findings in this report depict so-called prestigious universities as anything but.
Back in April, on the steps of Columbia’s Lowe Memorial Library, I declared, “The inmates are running an asylum.”
Today, I offer a slight addendum: it’s more like the children are running the day care.
Republican Virginia Foxx is a representative for North Carolina.
