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University presidents scrambled to contain the public-relations disaster created by their waffling on whether calling for the “genocide of Jews” would break campus rules, but the damage may have already been done.
The House Education and Workforce Committee launched a formal investigation Thursday into Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as calls intensified for their presidents to resign following Tuesday’s hearing on campus antisemitism.
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx said the testimony from Harvard President Claudine Gay, Penn President Liz Magill, and MIT President Sally Kornbluth “was absolutely unacceptable.”
“Committee members have deep concerns with their leadership and their failure to take steps to provide Jewish students the safe learning environment they are due under law,” she said. “Given those institutional and personal failures, the committee is opening a formal investigation into the learning environments at Harvard, UPenn, and MIT and their policies and disciplinary procedures.”
The North Carolina Republican said the investigation “will include substantial document requests, and the committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming.”
Her announcement came with the university leaders facing rising demands to step down over their responses to quizzing by Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican. They told the lawmaker that whether campus protests demanding the “genocide of Jews” violate their conduct codes would depend on the context.
The hearing came in response to ongoing pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests roiling college campuses since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians. Popular chants include “globalize the intifada” and “long live the intifada,” which refer to the violent overthrow of Israel.
“Disgusting that the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn refused to say that ‘calling for the genocide of Jews’ is considered harassment and bullying,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise on X. “Let’s be clear: It is. This shouldn’t be hard for college presidents to say. Their hypocrisy is stunning. They should resign.”
Leading the resignation demands was Ms. Stefanik, who was joined by the Republican National Committee, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, and former Trump official Richard Grenell, as well as prominent conservatives like Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon and Canadian psychologist Jordan B. Peterson.
By Thursday, the outrage had crossed party lines, with Democrats including Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey joining the calls for the university heads to step down.
Meanwhile, the universities sought to mitigate the uproar over the hearing testimony — by providing context.
In a Wednesday statement, Ms. Gay said that some people “have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students.”
“Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account,” she said.
Ms. Magill sought to walk back her testimony, saying in a Wednesday video message that she had been too focused on the university’s policy that “speech alone is not punishable.”
“I was not focused on what I should have been: the irrefutable fact that a call for genocide of Jewish people is a call for some of the most terrible violence human beings can perpetrate. It’s evil, pure and simple,” she said.
Not impressed was Ms. Stefanik, who called it a “pathetic PR clean up attempt.”
Billionaire Harvard alum Bill Ackman said the three presidents “must all resign in disgrace.”
“Why has antisemitism exploded on campus and around the world?” he asked on X. “Because of leaders like Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth who believe genocide depends on the context.”
The uproar is already threatening Penn’s bottom line. Ross Stevens, founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Management, told the university in a Thursday letter that he is withdrawing his $100 million pledge, saying he is “appalled” by Penn’s stance on campus antisemitism.
The letter published by Axios said the university’s “permissive approach to hate speech calling for violence against Jews and laissez faire attitude toward harassment and discrimination against Jewish students would violate any policies of rules that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on religion, including those of Stone Ridge.”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates offered no lifeline to the embattled university presidents.
“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country,” Mr. Bates said in a statement, as reported by The Associated Press.
He added that “[a]ny statements that advocate for the systematic murder of Jews are dangerous and revolting — and we should all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans.”
Jewish groups condemning the university president’s statements include the Zionist Organization of America, which said the obvious answer to Ms. Stefanik’s questions should have been “yes.”
“But, incredibly and shockingly, none of those university presidents took a stand against calling for the annihilation of all Jews, even after Congresswoman Stefanik gave them multiple opportunities to do so,” said ZOA President Morton Klein. “Magill, Gay and Kornbluth should all resign or be fired immediately. They demonstrated antisemitic and anti-American bigotry. Jews have civil rights too. Jewish lives matter.”
Ms. Foxx warned that other universities could find themselves under House scrutiny.
“The disgusting targeting and harassment of Jewish students is not limited to these institutions, and other universities should expect investigations as well, as their litany of similar failures has not gone unnoticed,” she said.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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