House Panel’s Republicans Prepare to Grill College Prexies on Campus Antisemitism

A day before a scheduled House hearing to question college presidents on their responses to campus antisemitism, Republican lawmakers made clear their willingness to fight strenuously against schools not sufficiently addressing the issue.

“I look forward to asking those presidents what they are doing and what they intend to do about the rise of antisemitism on their campuses. And if they’re not doing anything, then I have a question: Why should they receive federal funding?” said Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., a member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, at a press conference on antisemitism.

The Wednesday hearing, titled “Beyond the Ivy League: Stopping the Spread of Antisemitism on American Campuses,” will feature the presidents of California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo, California; Haverford College in Haverford, Pennsylvania; and DePaul University in Chicago.

McClain was joined by freshman Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who is Jewish, as well as House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Vice Chairman Burgess Owens, R-Utah. 

They were also joined by Michael Kaminsky, a Jewish student at DePaul University, who spoke of being brutally attacked alongside a friend by “two masked agitators” on campus “simply for being proud American Jews.”

“Now is the time we finally hold our institutions accountable for festering Jew hatred and antisemitism on their college campuses, and I’m looking forward to the committee hearing tomorrow,” said the DePaul junior.

Kaminsky was introduced by Fine, who raised his voice as he said that “no child should walk through campus today and wonder if they will make it from their dorm room to their classroom … and they will be attacked. And that is not only happening, it is excused.”

During the question-and-answer period, McClain was asked whether or not she hoped the hearing would lead to the firings of university presidents, just as previous testimony by then-Harvard President Claudine Gay led to her resignation.

“My goal isn’t to get these presidents fired. My goal is to get them to do their job,” McClain replied.

Asked by The Daily Signal if she would push for legislation to defund universities if she was not satisfied with university presidents' answers, she said, “We will do whatever it takes to make sure that antisemitism is eliminated.”

Walberg then interjected, “We are prepared to do what’s necessary, but we have a president who’s already doing that. We’re not wanting [college] presidents to resign unless they need to resign.”

The event, which was at one point interrupted by hecklers from the leftist protest group Code Pink, concluded with McClain and others meeting young Jewish students.