Nine Jewish students at major universities told members of Congress on Thursday that they feel unsafe on campus, but that university administrations had rejected their complaints of anti-Semitism.
At a bipartisan roundtable hosted by the House Education and Workforce Committee, students described several episodes of anti-Semitism they had experienced on campus since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, accusing their schools of pandering to violent and disruptive protesters while minimizing the threat to Jewish students.
“I’ve been told time and time again that the university is taking these issues seriously, but action is always not taken,” said Noah Rubin, a student at the University of Pennsylvania.
The roundtable in Washington was led by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina. The 20 members of Congress, including Ms. Foxx, who participated were evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.
The nine students (from Harvard, Penn, MIT, Columbia and five other universities) were chosen by the House committee, with the Republican majority on the panel having the most influence in choosing them, according to a Foxx aide. Committee members looked for students at universities that had high-profile incidents of anti-Semitism.
Several Jewish groups showed their support for the congressional committee’s efforts Thursday, sending representatives to sit in the audience. But some critics have dismissed the hearings on the issue as part of a broader culture war waged by the Republican Party against colleges and universities, which are perceived as bastions of liberalism.
The discussion, less formal than testimony at a congressional hearing, was a sort of sequel to the Dec. 5 hearing in which the presidents of MIT, Harvard and Penn were questioned about campus anti-Semitism. The leaders were asked whether the genocide of Jews at their universities would be punished, and their answers (which would depend on the context) provoked a fierce reaction and led to the resignations of two of the presidents.
Questions about how to maintain free speech while suppressing disruptive protests have roiled universities across the country since the Oct. 7 attack. While Jewish students have pushed for universities to take steps to combat anti-Semitism, and some have filed lawsuits against their schools, Muslim students and other supporters of Palestinians have also filed complaints describing harassment and discrimination against them.
Several investigations are underway to examine allegations of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bias on campuses. The Department of Education has opened investigations into discrimination against Muslim students at Harvard and other universities. And the House committee is investigating anti-Semitism at Harvard, Penn, MIT and Columbia, and Foxx has said the examination could be expanded. The roundtable would help inform the next steps of the investigation, she said.
Passionate, angry and defiant, students on Thursday repeatedly described feeling scared and abandoned, despite their efforts to be heard by university officials.
“By inviting me, you’ve actually already done more than Harvard University has done for its Jews, who are listening to us,” said Shabat Kestenbaum, a student at Harvard Divinity School. Kestenbaum is one of six Jewish Harvard students who sued the university for discrimination.
The students, who were not under oath, spoke about experiencing and witnessing episodes of violence and verbal attacks on campus. Some said that after being spat on and cursed at, they stopped wearing their Star of David necklaces and caps.
They also said that during war-related protests, some of which had turned violent, it appeared that university police at their schools had been told not to detain protesters.
Jacob Khalili, a Cooper Union student, described staying inside a library while a pro-Palestinian protest was taking place outside. He said protesters banged on doors and banged on windows, “screaming anti-Israel and anti-Semitic chants.” He recalled that some of the people with him called the police for help, but he said the authorities did not intervene.
Joe Gindi, a Rutgers student, said protesters once yelled at him, “We don’t want Zionists here!” and he called him a “European colonizer” even though his family had come from Syria. He also said that the police and administrators present at the scene did not stop the protesters.
Lawmakers at the roundtable seemed surprised by the stories and empathized with the students. House members said they were working to turn information gleaned from hearings and discussions into legislation.
But some audience members noted Thursday that Jewish students aren’t the only ones facing discrimination on campus. A small group of protesters from Code Pink, a pro-Palestinian anti-war group, said Muslim and Arab students had also suffered abuse and deserved to be heard.
“There is a very real problem with Islamophobia,” said Moataz Salim, a graduate student at George Washington University, who said about 40 members of his family had been displaced from their homes in Gaza, while others had been killed. He knew a professor who had been accused of anti-Semitism for speaking openly about Palestinian rights and for inviting a speaker whom Jewish students had opposed, he said.
Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, said limiting Thursday’s discussion to anti-Semitism “ignores many forms of bias that exist on campuses.”