Campus Leaders Stand Their Ground Before Congress

Inside Higher Ed

Josh Moody

May 24, 2024

During Thursday’s Congressional hearing about campus antisemitism, the leaders of Northwestern University, Rutgers University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, emerged largely unscathed, despite contentious questions from lawmakers.

The three leaders—Michael Schill of Northwestern, Jonathan Holloway of Rutgers and Gene Block of UCLA—were called before Congress to discuss alleged antisemitic incidents on their campuses and their handling of the pro-Palestinian encampments that sprung up at all three universities.

While several Congressional Republicans (and a small group of Democrats) raged, the campus leaders appeared unfazed, remaining calm and collected in the face of sometimes barbed questioning. They seemed to have absorbed the lessons of the presidents who occupied the hot seat before them, demonstrating care and concern for their students while providing guarded answers and refusing to be intimidated by their interrogators.

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