On Wednesday, the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania testified before the House of Representatives about anti-Semitism on college campuses. The three are facing calls to resign.
Elsa Chang, host:
Tensions have been rising this week since the presidents of Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania testified on Capitol Hill about steps their institutions are taking to protect students from anti-Semitism on campus.
Ari Shapiro, host:
Claudine Guy of Harvard University, Liz Magill of Pennsylvania, and Sally Kornbluth of MIT appeared before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Tuesday.
CHANG: In one of the intense exchanges during more than three hours of testimony, Elise Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York and a Harvard graduate, asked Jay about whether calls for the genocide of Jews would violate the university’s code of conduct.
(Audio of archived recording)
Claudine Guy: It goes against Harvard’s values.
Elise Stefanik: Can’t you just say here…
Jay: But our values also…
Stefanik: …Is this against Harvard’s code of conduct?
Gay: We are committed to freedom of expression, even regarding objectionable, offensive and hateful opinions. This occurs when this speech turns into behavior that violates our policies against bullying, harassment, and intimidation…
Stefanik: Doesn’t this speech cross that barrier? Doesn’t this speech call for the extermination of the Jews and the elimination of Israel?
SHAPIRO: All three university presidents have faced widespread condemnation since they appeared on the Hill and evaded the issue. The repercussions were swift. Virginia Foxx, Republican from North Carolina, who chairs the committee, announced an investigation into learning environments in schools.
CHANG: Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said all three presidents should resign. Hedge fund manager Ross Stevens has threatened to withdraw a $100 million donation from the University of Pennsylvania.
SHAPIRO: Thousands of Harvard alumni have written to that university’s board demanding that its president, Claudine Guy, be replaced.
CHANG: Okay. NPR’s Sequoia Carrillo joins us now to talk about all the implications. Hey, Sequoia.
SEQUOYA CARRILLO, BY PHONE: Hi, Elsa.
CHANG: Well, this session – I mean, it clearly struck a chord. The three universities now face potential consequences. What’s the latest at this point?
Carrillo: Well, let’s start with Liz Magill. So she’s the president of UPenn, and the calls from her school and state for her to resign are probably the loudest right now. Donors are angry. As I mentioned, there are those who are threatening to withdraw $100 million. Six Pennsylvania congressmen also sent a letter to the school’s board of trustees demanding Magill’s resignation. Now some are demanding the resignation of the Chairman of the Board of Directors as well. The council meets today to talk about this. But pressure has been building on Magill for some time. Students, alumni and donors began raising concerns in September after a campus event hosted speakers with a history of anti-Semitic comments and behavior. Fast forward to October 7th and the Hamas attack and Israeli military response in Gaza. Tensions grow higher, and these calls resonate louder. People like Jon Huntsman, the former governor of Utah and US ambassador to Russia, China and Singapore, said his family would stop donations.
Chang: Wow.
Carrillo: And things keep happening on campus. In November, a group of employees received disturbing emails calling for violence against the Jewish community. Later that month, anti-Semitic messages were displayed outside three buildings in Pennsylvania.
CHANG: Well, this is Ben. What about Harvard and MIT?
Carrillo: The MIT Board of Regents issued a statement yesterday saying they stand behind their president, Sally Kornbluth. But Claudine Guy of Harvard University is facing similar calls to resign. She issued a statement after the testimony to clarify her responses. She said that calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community or any religious or ethnic group are despicable. They have no place at Harvard. Those who threaten our Jewish students will be held accountable. Then yesterday it doubled. Jay sat down with the campus student newspaper and apologized. She said she was sorry and that, in her words, she had been “caught up in what had become, at that point, an extended combative exchange over policies and procedures.” Harvard has faced similar problems to the University of Pennsylvania regarding anti-Semitic incidents on campus, the most widely covered being the letter signed by students in the wake of the October 7 attack, which held Israel fully responsible for the widespread violence. This angered donors and alumni.
Zhang: That’s true. I want to go back for a moment to Jay’s apology at Harvard, when she said her testimony became an exchange of policies and procedures, as she put it. I mean, yes, her answers were about the line between speech and behavior, but there’s so much more to it than that, right?
Carrillo: Right. Free speech on college campuses is often tied to the broader culture wars raging in American politics right now, and this week’s hearing was absolutely no exception. There is pressure from all sides. Even the Biden administration has spoken out. The Department of Education sent a letter to college administrators last month saying schools must take aggressive action to address anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on campuses or risk losing federal funding. You also have Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, as you said, the Republican chair of the House Education Committee, who issued a statement yesterday that they are launching a formal investigation into Harvard, UT, and MIT.
CHANG: That’s NPR’s Sequoia Carrillo. Thank you Sequoia.
Carrillo: Thank you.
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