After comments made during a hearing this week about on-campus antisemitism drew criticism, the House of Representatives' Education and Workforce Committee has announced they are launching an investigation into Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, MIT and potentially other universities.
In a statement on the investigation, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) -- who, this week, pressured Penn's president Liz Magill to provide a clear answer when asked if calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate school policies -- said the move was intended to "hold these schools accountable."
“After this week's pathetic and morally bankrupt testimony by university presidents when answering my questions, the Education and Workforce Committee is launching an official Congressional investigation with the full force of subpoena power into Penn, MIT, & Harvard and others," Stefanik said in a statement. “We will use our full Congressional authority to hold these schools accountable for their failure on the global stage."
Committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) said that the responses that legislators heard from Magill, as well as Harvard's president Claudine Gay and MIT president Sally Kornbluth were "absolutely unacceptable."
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"The testimony we received earlier this week from Presidents Gay, Magill, and Kornbluth about the responses of Harvard, UPenn, and MIT to the rampant antisemitism displayed on their campuses by students and faculty was absolutely unacceptable." Foxx said in a statement. “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."
Foxx continued, calling the testimony from these presidents "institutional and personal failures."
"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. This 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," she said. “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.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who is Jewish, told reporters on Wednesday that Magill's response during the hearing was “an unacceptable statement."
“I’ve said many times, leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity. And Liz Magill failed to meet that simple test,” he said. “I think whether you’re talking about genocide against Jews, genocide against people of color, genocide against LGBTQ folks, it’s all in the wrong. And it needs to be called out. And it shouldn’t be hard. And there should be no nuance to that. She needed to give a one-word answer. ”
Shapiro also said it was time for the university's board to make a “serious decision” about Magill's leadership at the school.
On Wednesday, Penn's president Magill posted a response on social media where she admitted she may have been too focused on freedom of speech when she was in front of legislators.
"I was not focused on, but 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, plain and simple," she said.
A rally is currently being held outside of Magill's office at the University of Pennsylvania.
"The rally is inclusive for every person who would like to stand against Jew hate and antisemitism," one of the organizers wrote.
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