OPINION:
As students return to campus this fall, university leadership needs to take decisive action to ensure there are no repeats of the horrific failures of the past school year. Far-left ideology has gripped our universities and has led to rampant antisemitism and the violation of basic civil rights on campuses. Jewish students and faculty must be able to learn and work on college campuses without fear for their safety, and House Republicans are demanding change and fighting to hold accountable those responsible.
The failed presidents and board members of these universities, brimming with elitists and individuals with antisemitic and pro-terrorist affiliations, are out of touch with the priorities of the American people. American colleges and universities are pushing a divisive DEI agenda that breeds hate and antisemitism instead of preparing our next generation of leaders. Our country needs leaders who will prioritize the wellbeing of our students. This starts with the total elimination of DEI curriculum and dismantling of DEI bureaucracy.
The Biden-Harris Department of Education has refused to hold the presidents and board members of our so-called “elite” universities accountable for their inability to stop and prevent antisemitic attacks against Jewish students and faculty, and instead allowed taxpayer dollars to continue to fund this hate. House Republicans have worked tirelessly to fill the void left by far-left Democrats and demand accountability. In what quickly became the most-viewed congressional testimony in history, I asked former Harvard University President Claudine Gay whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s code of conduct, and she answered that it “depends on the context.” This straightforward question should have a straightforward answer, and universities should ensure that those who call for the genocide of Jews on their campus are held accountable.
Perhaps former Columbia University President Minouche Shafik was following Gay’s example on April 17th. Shafik and Columbia board members epitomized their own failed leadership in another congressional hearing when they could not account for Columbia’s lack of response to antisemitism and anarchy on their campus. This anarchy later led to the violent storming of a campus building due to her failure to crack down on an unauthorized pro- Hamas encampment. As of today, Gay, Shafik and President Liz McGill of the University of Pennsylvania have all resigned in disgrace.
Their long-overdue departures were only the beginning of House Republicans’ work to rid these institutions of the antisemitic rot festering not only at the top, but also throughout the higher education bureaucracy. Harvard leaders doubled down on their indifference towards the harassment and violence against Jewish and Israeli students by failing to present the committee with adequate documents relating to their unsatisfactory responses not once, but three times. House Republicans once again took charge, with House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) issuing a subpoena for the documentation. The slow-walking of ongoing civil rights investigations by the Biden-Harris Administration underscores the desire of this White House to continue pandering to pro-terrorist and anti-Jewish faculty and mobs instead of protecting our Jewish students.
Changes and decisive action are required. Antisemitic harassment, illegal encampments, and the hostile takeover of buildings by pro-terrorist mobs must be met with zero tolerance, not the dismissal of charges, as recently happened at Columbia. Far too often, we see universities turn a blind eye to despicable harassment and violence, allowing attacks on Jewish students to go unpunished and breeding environments of lawlessness. If universities and far-left prosecutors fail to deliver consequences, these pro-terrorist mobs will be emboldened as classes resume.
To address the root of these issues, universities must also be transparent and disclose their foreign funding. Malign actors have taken advantage of the vulnerabilities of our universities’ foreign-gift reporting structure and the weak leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration. Foreign money has flown unchecked into our universities, threatening our national security and giving our adversaries undue influence over the minds of our students. Additional reporting has shown that hostile actors like Iran are funding pro-terrorist and anti-American mobs, giving adversaries undue influence over our students. Foreign-gift reporting loopholes must be closed, and our universities must be transparent about what foreign nations are funding their operations.
If we are to see calm and order restored to our universities this fall, action must be taken. Jewish students should be able to pursue an education in peace without fear of antisemitic harassment and threats of violence. University leaders have had the summer months to prepare and learn from their mistakes and must be ready to act to ensure their campuses are places of learning where the civil rights of students are protected.
• Rep. Elise Stefanik represents New York’s 21st District in her fifth term and serves as the House Republican Conference Chair and most senior Republican in New York.
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