University Leaders to Provide Testimony Before House Committee on Campus Conflict

Testimony from the heads of three universities and an academic honor society is scheduled for Thursday at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding universities’ management of anti-Israel demonstrations.

This hearing marks the sixth event organized by the committee and its subcommittees addressing schools’ responses to escalating tensions following a deadly attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel on Oct. 7, resulting in 1,200 deaths and over 250 hostages.

Across numerous campuses nationwide, students constructed tents and organized rallies urging President Joe Biden to take stronger action to stop the conflict in Gaza and demanding their universities to divest from companies supporting the Israeli government.

Following backlash over congressional testimony in December regarding antisemitism on campus, the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania stepped down.

The House Committee will now hear from the leaders of Northwestern University, Rutgers University, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The head of the Phi Beta Kappa Society will provide testimony in a personal capacity, as stated by a spokesperson for the organization.

At UCLA, clashes occurred between the encampment inhabitants and masked counter-demonstrators, with law enforcement refraining from intervening for several hours.

The subsequent day, police forcibly disbanded a group of protesters, arriving early in the morning and using forceful tactics to disperse the crowd. The Los Angeles police reported 210 arrests at the university.

“With the benefit of hindsight, we should have been prepared to promptly disband the encampment if the safety of our community was jeopardized,” anticipated Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA, according to his prepared statement.

Rutgers and Northwestern reached agreements with student protesters to end the demonstrations. The arrangement at Northwestern allows protesters to remain until June 1.

On Monday, a student at Northwestern initiated a class-action lawsuit against the institution, alleging systemic antisemitism that marginalizes Jewish students from a complete educational experience.