A Republican-led investigation into antisemitism on college campuses found that administrators “overwhelmingly failed” to clamp down on students and faculty who engaged in antisemitic behavior following Hamas’ attack on Israel last year.
The 325-page report released by the US House Education Committee Thursday states that college officials made “astounding concessions” to organizers of pro-Palestinian encampments, while withholding support from Jewish students.
“For over a year, the American people have watched antisemitic mobs rule over so-called elite universities, but what was happening behind the scenes is arguably worse,” Republican Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, who led the investigation, said in a statement.
Foxx, who praised Jewish students for their bravery, added that university leadership were “cowards” that “failed the students they were supposed to serve.”
In a review of over 400,000 documents from 11 colleges, lawmakers found that Northwestern University entertained an idea to hire an “anti-Zionist” rabbi, while “radical anti-Israel faculty” were put in charge of negotiations with the school’s encampment.
It criticized senior leadership at Harvard University for failing to condemn Hamas following the group’s attack on Israel on October 7 –– saying that the school’s public statement –– published on October 9 –– was edited down to cut the word “violent” when describing Hamas’ incursion.