On Wednesday, for the fourth time in 17 months, the U.S. House’s education committee brought in college presidents to testify about antisemitism generally and particular incidents on their campuses.
Republican committee leaders said they selected Haverford College, in Pennsylvania, DePaul University, in Chicago, and California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo to highlight institutions not currently under investigation by the Trump administration, and because all three had received failing grades in a recent report from the Anti-Defamation League.
Here are five key moments from the hearing.
“We’ve made mistakes along the way.”
In his opening statement, DePaul’s president, Robert Manuel, apologized for the handling of antisemitism on campus and admitted to missteps since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel.
“We’ve made mistakes along the way,” Manuel said. “As DePaul’s leader, I want to acknowledge that openly. To our students, our parents, our faculty, our staff, our alumni, and our friends, I am deeply sorry.”
Similarly, Haverford’s president, Wendy Raymond, apologized directly to Jewish students. “I am sorry that my actions and my leadership let you down,” she said.
Later, Raymond added that her email response in the days following the October 7 attack didn’t do enough to condemn the 1,200 deaths and “did not get it right.” Manuel also said DePaul’s 17-day encampment last spring was allowed to continue for too long; law enforcement ultimately intervened.
Cal Poly’s president, Jeffrey Armstrong, did not explicitly make an apology, but he acknowledged that Cal Poly has to “do better” in responding to antisemitism. He emphasized changes to the university’s policies, including deploying campus police officers and making arrests when necessary.
“The other presidents are answering this straightforward.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, has become known for her interrogations of college leaders at previous hearings. On Wednesday, she singled out Raymond for refusing to answer questions about whether any Haverford students or employees have faced discipline over certain protests and online posts.
“This is a simple question,” Stefanik said. “The other presidents are answering this straightforward.”
Previously, Rep. Tim Walberg, Republican of Michigan and chair of the committee, had asked each president for the number of suspensions and expulsions at each college “for antisemitic conduct since October 7.”
When Raymond refused to give specific numbers, Walberg replied: “You don’t have numbers to give us, so we assume there have been none.” Later, after repeated questioning, Raymond said “some” people had been disciplined.
Meanwhile, Manuel and Armstrong answered Walberg’s question directly. At DePaul, eight student groups were investigated since the Hamas attack, two of which were suspended, Manuel said. Police also arrested two people after DePaul’s encampment, one of whom was a student. At Cal Poly, six students were suspended or put on probation, Armstrong said.
“That partnership may be in jeopardy.”
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, Republican of Pennsylvania, said Raymond’s inability to be transparent about how her college has disciplined people meant that Haverford’s government funding “may be in jeopardy.” While Haverford isn’t a major research institution, many of its students receive federal financial aid.
“I think that probably warrants a further investigation,” Mackenzie said of Haverford’s handling of antisemitism. “The Department of Education should be looking into that and ultimately they should be withholding funds from somebody who does not want to provide transparent and accurate information about how they are handling discrimination on their college campus.”
In closing remarks, Walberg thanked only Manuel and Armstrong, and not Raymond, for their testimony describing their mistakes and what they’re now doing to remedy them.
“Why are you cutting in half the Office for Civil Rights?”
David Cole, a professor of law and public policy at Georgetown University Law Center and a former legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union, was the outlier sitting next to three college presidents. Cole reminded the committee that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act does not prohibit antisemitic speech, which is permitted under the First Amendment. A college only violates Title VI if they are indifferent to discrimination that denies students access to an education, he said.
Democratic lawmakers frequently called on Cole to give his opinion on how the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights demonstrates the GOP’s indifference to fighting antisemitism. In March, Education Secretary Linda McMahon laid off almost 40 percent of OCR’s staff.
At the end of the hearing, Walberg responded by arguing that OCR had failed to do their job.
“I hope in the process of what this administration is doing, and we will be asking questions,” Walberg said, “we will have an entity that will actually function for all students and all faculty on campuses.”
“We purchased and enjoyed those donuts.”
One lawmaker asked Raymond whether she had complied with calls to boycott an Israeli bakery supplying donuts to Haverford’s commencement ceremony, a campaign that protesters called “Say No to Blood Donuts.”
Raymond rebutted the accusation. “We purchased and enjoyed those donuts,” she said.
