House Committee Holds Hearing on College Campus Antisemitism

TIME

The presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Tuesday that they were taking steps to combat antisemitism on campus since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Transcript

00:00 During these difficult days, I have felt the bonds of our community strain.

00:05 In response, I have sought to confront hate while preserving free expression.

00:12 This is difficult work, and I know that I have not always gotten it right.

00:17 The free exchange of ideas is the foundation upon which Harvard is built,

00:24 and safety and well-being are the prerequisites for engagement in our community.

00:29 Without both of these things, our teaching and research mission founder.

00:34 In the past two months, our bedrock commitments have guided our efforts.

00:40 We have increased security measures,

00:43 expanded reporting channels, and augmented counseling, mental health, and support services.

00:49 We have reiterated that speech that incites violence,

00:54 threatens safety, or violates Harvard's policies against bullying and harassment is unacceptable.

01:00 As a student of constitutional democracy,

01:03 I know that we need both safety and free expression for universities and ultimately democracy to thrive.

01:11 In these times, these competing principles can be difficult to balance, but I am determined to get it right.

01:17 And we must get this right. The stakes are too high.

01:22 Penn would not be what it is without its strong Jewish community past, present, and future.

01:28 I am proud of this tradition and deeply troubled when members of our Jewish community

01:33 share that their sense of belonging has been shaken.

01:37 Under my leadership, we will never ever shrink from our moral responsibility to combat

01:44 antisemitism and educate all to recognize and reject hate.

01:49 We will remain vigilant. But the barbarity of the Hamas terror of October 7th

01:55 adds a terrible new chapter to Jewish history.

02:00 Anyone who claims to care about human rights

02:03 should denounce these horrors. That so many on campus not only did not, but that they justified the

02:10 savagery in name of opposition to Israel has caused Jews around the world

02:17 deep anguish. While I deplore all hateful speech,

02:21 antisemitic speech remains in America

02:24 protected. Free speech stands at the core of the liberal arts education, an

02:31 education which almost every member of Congress benefited from when they were students. But free speech does not permit

02:38 harassment, discrimination, bias, threats, or violence in any form.

02:44 I strongly believe that there is a difference between what we can say to each other,

02:49 that is what we have a right to say, and what we should say as members of one community.

02:56 Yet as president of MIT, in addition to my duties to keep the campus safe and to

03:02 maintain the functioning of this national asset, I must at the same time

03:07 ensure that we protect speech and viewpoint diversity for everyone.

03:13 This is in keeping with the Institute's principles on free expression.

03:18 Meeting those three goals is challenging and the results can be terribly uncomfortable,

03:23 but it is essential to how we operate in the United States.

03:27 Those who want us to shut down protest language are in effect arguing for a speech code, but in practice speech codes do not work.

03:36 Problematic speech needs to be countered with other speech and with education, and

03:42 we are doing that.

03:44 However, the right to free speech does not extend to harassment,

03:49 discrimination, or incitement to violence in our community.

03:53 Will admissions offers be rescinded or any disciplinary action be taken against students or applicants who say

04:00 from the river to the sea or into FATA advocating for the murder of Jews?

04:04 As I've said, that type of hateful,

04:10 reckless, offensive speech is personally abhorrent to me.

04:13 And today that no action will be taken. What action will be taken? When speech crosses into conduct that violates our policies,

04:22 including policies against bullying,

04:24 harassment, or intimidation, we take action and we have robust

04:28 disciplinary processes that allow us to hold individuals accountable.

04:33 What action has been taken against students who are harassing and calling for the genocide of Jews?

04:39 On Harvard's campus. I can assure you we have robust

04:44 What actions have been taken? I'm not asking. I'm asking what actions have been taken against those students.

04:51 Given students rights to privacy and our obligations under FERPA,

04:56 I will not say more about any specific cases other than to reiterate that processes are ongoing.

05:04 Do you know what the number one hate crime in America is?

05:07 I

05:09 know that over the last couple of months there has been an alarming rise of

05:18 antisemitism, which I understand is the critical topic that we are here to discuss. That's correct.

05:25 It is anti-Jewish hate crimes and

05:28 Harvard ranks the lowest when it comes to protecting Jewish students.

05:33 This is why I've called for your resignation and your testimony today not being able to answer with moral clarity

05:38 speaks volumes. I yield back.

05:41 Professor Ann Norton who's repeatedly denied Hamas's worst

05:46 atrocities on October 7. Or how about Huda

05:50 Fakhruddin who romanticized the murder of over a thousand Israeli Jews as quote

05:56 "Palestine inventing a new way of life" and clapped as

06:02 a speaker said Jews should go back to Berlin and Moscow. Why does that professor still have a job at your university?

06:09 I'm very troubled by what you're describing Congressman that kind of

06:17 You're speaking out of both sides of your mouth. You're defending it.

06:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended