House lawmakers grill university leaders over response to campus encampments

Higher Ed Dive

Natalie Schwartz

May 23, 2024

House Republicans grilled the leaders of Rutgers University, Northwestern University and the University of California, Los Angeles on Thursday, panning their responses to the pro-Palestinian encampments that have cropped up on campuses nationwide.

The hearing, held by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, marks the third time the panel has called top college leaders to testify about how they’ve handled campus unrest in the wake of the latest Israel-Hamas war. The committee has also brought in K-12 leaders to face similar lines of questioning, as well as heard from Jewish college students about their experiences facing antisemitism on campus.

During Thursday’s inquiry, the higher education leaders stressed that they must protect free speech and the right to protest while ensuring that those actions don’t cross the line into harassment or violence.

Other college presidents who have testified before the committee have stressed similar points, only to face widespread criticism afterward.

Former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who testified before lawmakers in December, resigned a few days after going to Washington, D.C. Claudine Gay, then-president of Harvard University, stepped down from her post in January amid mounting plagiarism allegations and anger over her responses to lawmakers.

However, some Democrats on the committee argued Thursday that the hearings failed to do anything to address the root issues of campus tension.

Continue Reading