As fall semesters begin at colleges and universities across the country, the pro-Hamas protests that became a national story last April and May are beginning to bubble.
Massive encampments with green tents dotting once picturesque college lawns have not yet arrived, but the anti-Jewish sentiment is the same.
North Carolina Republican Virginia Foxx, chair of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, hopes congressional demands for college presidents and administrators to show evidence and planning will make a difference.
Early results have been mixed.
Foxx is especially disappointed in an apparent lack of planning – and accountability for protesters -- at Columbia University, the epicenter of last spring’s unrest. President Minouche Shafik resigned in August, weeks before the start of classes, in the aftermath.
“It appears to us there have been almost no negative consequences for the bad behavior that occurred on the Columbia campus," ” Foxx said on Washington Watch Monday. "They hide behind privacy of students, but it appears to us, and we have nothing from Columbia to refute it, that very few of the students who were engaged in not just bad behavior but unlawful behavior, that almost none of them have received any negative consequences."
Columbia’s get out of jail free cards
Information provided by Columbia administrators to the committee showed that 40 students arrested by New York police ultimately had those charges dropped. As of early August, 38 were in good standing with the school. Others were waiting for a hearing or were facing conditional disciplinary probation, Blaze media reported.
Foxx told show host Jody Hice she believes the spring protests and terrorizing of Jewish students will lead to declining enrollment at many schools.
Though not widespread, there have been some reports tying lower enrollment to anti-Israel protests.
Emerson College in Boston announced last month it was eliminating 10 staff positions as a result of fewer students, Fox News reported.
Foxx believes the most important thing her committee can do is to draw attention to poor response and leadership on college campuses.
However, she did not rule out a loss of Title IV funding for schools that can’t make things right.
“That’s the ultimate negative thing that could happen to them. We haven’t gotten that far yet, but that’s the potential,” she said.
The committee is making an impact, Foxx believes, yet she expects campus turmoil to continue.
“I expect to see much of the same on the campuses because we don’t believe the schools have done what they need to do to be prepared. We know already there have been some demonstrations on some of the campuses. We know that the groups that try to bring chaos have prepared for that, whereas we’re not sure that the schools are prepared,” she said.
Robbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, told Fox News that his group is “very concerned” about an uptick in protests and the intimidation of Jewish students.
Some schools have tried to take preemptive action. Harvard President Alan M. Garber last week warned students of consequences for violations of school policies during anticipated protests.
Last week at the University of Michigan, a key swing state in this fall’s presidential election, school security broke up a pro-Palestinian demonstration, and police arrested four people.
Harvard isn’t alone in trying to do more to keep protesters in line.
“I think many campuses recognized — whatever their personal sympathies were — it was bedlam, and it wasn’t healthy. And it couldn’t continue,” Hauer told Fox News. “And they worked on policies on time and place restrictions and how they would react.”
He noted the deep pockets and “very dark” funding sources for the protesters.
“We know these pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic groups are being funded heavily by, perhaps, other countries to give them the opportunity to go out there and do what they’re doing and harm the students,” Foxx said.
Michigan unrest in the spotlight
At least one of the arrests at Michigan turned into a physical altercation with police, Jewish Telegraph Agency reported.
At Michigan, the student government oversees a $1.3 million budget for student groups. Its leaders have pledged to withhold funding from all groups until the university commits to divest – to end all business with Israel.
The university has said it has other means to support students if the elected government attempts to carry out the threat, JTA reported.
“You cannot be an institution of higher education and allow what is happening on these campuses to be happening. They should be protecting their students, and they should be showing support for students of all religions and not allowing anti-Semitism to run rampant, even anti-Christian efforts on the campuses,” Foxx said.
Security and safety for all should be the top priority on each campus, Foxx said.
“They should be protecting their students, and they should be showing support for students of all religions and not allowing anti-Semitisms to run rampant, even anti-Christian efforts on the campuses.
“Our goal as a committee has always been to make sure all students but particularly Jewish students feel safe and are not afraid to be on the campuses,” she said.
