Northwestern president says he will "never recommend" divestment or academic boycott of Israel
From CNN's Antoinette Radford
Northwestern President Michael Schill says he would not recommend to the university's board of trustees divestment from Israel.
“I will make clear that I would never recommend to the board of trustees, divestment of anything or any academic boycott of Israel," Schill said.
House Education Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx asked the university president if he would make it clear “that Northwestern will categorically reject any divestment or academic boycott of Israel?”
On an advisory committee on investment responsibility, Schill said he did not agree to create a new committee, rather it already existed.
“We had that committee for several years. We had already told the investment committee of the board of trustees that we would be beginning that committee, starting that committee up again in September that was done months before the encampment, and so we were going to do that anyway.”
He also noted that it was not a board committee, rather it was an advisory committee.
Foxx questions university heads over disciplinary actions
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx questioned university presidents about the disciplinary actions taken at schools for antisemitic conduct since October 7, 2023.
Northwestern University President Michael Schill said that to his knowledge, no students have been suspended or expelled, but there are ongoing investigations and there has been termination of staff.
Rutgers University President Dr. Jonathan Holloway said that there are investigations underway. The school has suspended four people and 19 others have had additional disciplinary actions, he said.
Chancellor of the University of California Los Angeles Dr. Gene Block said that his school has over 100 active investigations since October 7 of both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
"So, very few students have received any kind of disciplinary action," Foxx said.
Fight against antisemitism "must be waged with education," Rutgers president says
From CNN's Antoinette Radford
Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway continued his opening remarks by addressing the impact the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and the ongoing war in Gaza have had on both the Jewish and Palestinian communities on campus.
"At Rutgers, this war has been a tragedy for our Jewish and Palestinian communities," he said.
He said the university chose to respond to the protests with three priorities: "To ensure the safety of our community, to affirm and uphold our policies, and to promote dialogue and education."
Holloway reiterated the importance of education, saying:
"The battle against antisemitism, against bigotry in all of its forms must be waged with education."
He outlined ways the university had done that, including through lectures and films, establishing an advisory council on antisemitism at the New Brunswick campus, and by bringing Israeli and Palestinian students together in classrooms.
Encampments were a threat to our community, Northwestern University president says
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
In his opening statement, Northwestern University President Michael Schill defended the school's actions in handling protesters and the on-campus encampments.
Schill, who is Jewish himself, and reflected that his family members were Holocaust survivors and that "the committee is right to focus on what is a profoundly troubling reality facing the nation today: antisemitism is rising on campuses across the country, including at Northwestern. I am determined to confront this head-on. This fight could not be more personal for me."
Schill outlined four points he plans on addressing during the hearing:
- The very real problem of antisemitism on campus
- The health and safety of our community as the foundation for education and academic freedom
- Managing the encampment itself
- Our priorities moving forward
"Where there is conduct that threatens the Northwestern community we must impose discipline and we have done so," Schill said. He added that the current policies have fallen short and that new policies will be implemented before the new school term.
Schill went on to address the encampments and said he watched them pop up on his campus as well as campuses across the country.
"As I watched what was unfolding and the encampments across the country, I believe the danger it posed grew every day it stayed up," he said. "Every day brought new reports of intimidation and harassment."
He defended the tactic of dialogues the university used to help takedown the encampments and said "We did not give into any of the protesters demands," he said the commitments made were consistent with university values.
UCLA should have been ready to move faster to shut encampment, Chancellor Block says
From CNN's Matt Egan
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block acknowledged in his prepared remarks that the university should have been ready to move faster to shut down the pro-Palestinian on campus.
Block told lawmakers he decided on April 28 to remove the encampment after violence broke out and two days later, UCLA gave protesters written notice.
Yet before police could be assembled, the encampment was attacked by counterprotesters.
"Tragically, it took several hours before law enforcement could quell the violence," Block said.
"With the benefit of hindsight, we should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment if and when the safety of our community was put at risk," he continued.
The UCLA chancellor, who is retiring in July after 17 years at the helm, noted that many Jewish students have had to confront "repugnant" rhetoric and images on campus.
"Trust me, I understand their pain. I've lived it myself," Block said, noting he grew up Jewish in the Catskills in a family with relatives who were Holocaust victims and survivors and as a former provost of the University of Virginia when neo-Nazis rioted outside his family's synagogue.
Ranking Democrat questions impact of antisemitism hearing: "Complaining about a problem is not a solution"
Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, questioned the impact of the fourth hearing on antisemitism at college campuses within six months in his opening remarks.
"Complaining about a problem is not a solution," Scott said.
"The only changes that have resulted from these hearings is that a handful of individuals lost their jobs," he added. "Schools have had to dedicate hours that could've been used to combat discrimination on campus instead of responding to the majority's legal requests. And law firms advising college presidents had made a lot of money preparing the clients to testify in these hearings."
Scott went on to defend peaceful protesters by citing the First Amendment and recalling the impact of the Civil Rights movement on public opinion.
"No one on this panel is advocating for violence or harassment or disruption of the university operations, but students have the right to peacefully protest and express their opinions regardless of whether or not those opinions are politically unpopular or morally abhorrent," Scott said.
Rutgers president references his own family history in remarks to House committee
From CNN's Antoinette Radford
Rutgers University President Dr. Jonathan Holloway opened his testimony before the House committee by reiterating how proud the university is to have “one of the largest Jewish student populations in America.”
“We do so today, we did so long before October 7, and we will always do so,” Holloway said.
Holloway referenced his own family's background as he opened his speech, referencing his father who he said became the first Black person to teach at the Air War College in Montgomery, Alabama, and his grandfather, who was dean of education at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“I share this to make clear that a commitment to education and to providing access is in my DNA. And though I fully recognize the myriad ways in which my experience and that of our Jewish community are different, I know something about the awful impact of discrimination, too,” he said.
Harvard bars 13 senior undergrads from commencement
From CNN's Luciana Lopez
Harvard University has banned 13 senior undergraduate students from taking part in Thursday's commencement, according to a statement from a group called Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP) coalition.
"On Wednesday afternoon, the Harvard Corporation notified 13 senior undergraduate students that the administration would not allow the students to graduate as a result of their alleged participation in the Gaza solidarity encampment in Harvard Yard," according to the statement.
A group of pro-Palestinian protesterswho maintained anencampment atHarvard Universityreached an agreement with the university to end their encampment last week.
Pro-Palestinian encampments roiled many US universities for weeks this spring, with sometimes-violent clashes among students, school administrators, outside protestors and law enforcement; charges of antisemitism and antisemitic acts; and chaos that disrupted commencement activities across the country.
Rep. Foxx takes aim at college leaders but says hearing is not intended to "enact right-wing cancel culture"
From CNN's Antoinette Radford
In her opening address to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx is taking aim at leaders of universities across the US, evoking Ernest Hemingway to illustrate what she describes as their "decline."
She began her opening remarks claiming universities have “nurtured a campus culture of radicalism, in which antisemitism grew and become tolerated by administrators.”
She said the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel “ignited a powder keg of pro-terror campus fervor.”
In the months that followed, she said, Jewish students were “harassed, assaulted and intimidated” which led to “hijacking buildings, erecting unlawful encampments, disrupting classrooms and canceling commencements.”
Foxx continued her opening statement by demanding accountability from leaders of the universities who she said allowed encampments to take place, saying they should be “ashamed” of their actions.
Foxx also said she believed the university conceded to those who broke the rules on campus by constructing encampments, and she wanted to look into it further in today's hearing.
“I would like to know what sort of message you think that sends to your Jewish students,” she said.
Summarizing her opening, the congresswoman said she wanted to make it clear that the hearings were not intended to “enact right-wing cancel culture as purported by the left.”
“The purpose is to end antisemitic violence and harassment on campus, full stop,” she said.
