Universities yielded to anti-Semitic protests, report says

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday released a report finding that university leaders failed to stand firm against unlawful protests and harassment on their campuses. Numerous U.S. universities over the last year have dealt with encampments and other demonstrations by pro-Gaza protesters. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the report showed how once-great American universities fell short of their responsibilities to the public and their students.

What did the report say? University leaders at Northwestern, Columbia, Harvard, and others failed to adequately protect Jewish students on their campuses as pro-Gaza protesters set up encampments and stormed buildings, the report said. Also, the lawmakers found that protesters were often not meaningfully disciplined—those who did face discipline received minimal penalties.

The report also alleged that leadership at the universities made unreasonable academic concessions to students who criticized so-called Israeli aggression. Meanwhile, university leaders greeted the Congressional investigation into their activities with hostility and treated the pro-Palestinian demonstrations as a public relations issue, rather than threats to campus safety.

What do these universities have to say? Northwestern University told WORLD on Friday that the committee’s report failed to acknowledge the school’s efforts in the past year to improve its policies and better protect its students. The school said it strengthened its student code of conduct and disciplinary procedures to clarify what sorts of activities were permitted. Harvard and Columbia did not immediately respond to WORLD’s requests for comment.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about how student protests at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. were high-profile and low-risk for the students involved.