When the House Education and Labor Committee summoned the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania to testify in December, the focus was on how leaders were responding to a rise in anti-Semitic incidents on their campuses.
But in recent weeks, as pro-Palestinian encampments have popped up on campuses across the country, the committee has signaled a subtle shift in its focus from the larger issue of campus anti-Semitism to the encampments and their organizers in particular.
On May 6, the committee announced changes to the lineup of witnesses to reflect the changes. Initially, leaders of Yale University, the University of Michigan, and the University of California, Los Angeles, were expected to testify, but instead the leaders of Rutgers University, Northwestern University, and UCLA (all of which have struggled with the demands of protesters and protesters) were called to testify. The lineup has been changed to (School of). We'll also explain how to delete your encampment.
The committee's chairwoman, Rep. Virginia Foxx, suggested universities have been too soft on the protesters. “With buildings being defaced, campus green spaces being occupied, and graduation ceremonies being ruined, we must do everything we can to stop them,” she said in her initial announcement of the April 30 hearing.
Dr Fox has since challenged the deal authorities struck to get protesters to stop demonstrating.
“In recent days, the presidents of Northwestern University and Rutgers University have made shocking concessions against illegal anti-Semitic encampments on their campuses,” said Dr. Fox, R-North Carolina.
He said the leaders of both schools had “succumbed to anti-Semitic radicals with despicable cowardice,” adding, “Yale and the University of Michigan will never be indifferent.”
In a May 10 letter to Northwestern President Michael Schill, Dr. Fox said the university had caved in to the protesters and allowed them to maintain the “Northwestern Liberation Zone” while removing the tents. He was also criticized for agreeing to fund visits by Palestinian faculty and undergraduates, “in clear violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.”
Dr. Fox criticized UCLA for not promptly requesting assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department when “a riot broke out on campus as a group of agitators attempted to break up the encampment using force.”
And in her letter, she accused Rutgers of selectively applying the rules, saying, “When it comes to protecting Jewish students, the rules do not appear to apply at all.”