The US House education committee held its sixth hearing on campus antisemitism on Thursday, calling the presidents of Northwestern and Rutgers universities and the chancellor of UCLA to testify. The Republican-controlled committee questioned Michael Schill, Jonathan Holloway, and Gene Block about their handling of pro-Palestinian protests since the 7 October attack on Israel.
Previous hearings have led to the resignations of University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill and Harvard president Claudine Gay after criticism of their responses to antisemitism. At Columbia University, president Minouche Shafik ordered the NYPD to arrest protesters the day after her own testimony.
During Thursday's hearing, Republicans told the administrators they should be 'ashamed' for using insufficient force against demonstrators, comparing protesters to Nazis and segregationist George Wallace. One congressman also digressed into a complaint about the firing of a Northwestern football coach.
The committee’s stated aim is to combat antisemitism, but critics argue it conflates anti-Zionism with antisemitism. A video shown at the hearing depicted a Zionist influencer at UCLA confronting silent pro-Palestinian protesters. The hearing underscores ongoing tensions between free speech and accusations of bias on US campuses.
