Does calling for the genocide of the Jewish people violate school policy? That was one of the questions asked of Ivy League university presidents on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 5.
Some of the presidents’ answers have led to protests, calls for their removal, and the withdrawal of millions of dollars in donations and funding to their universities. They have also sparked a new investigation from the House of Representatives.
Leaders at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have since walked back some of their testimonies on campus antisemitism.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., asked Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” violates the university’s code of conduct.
“In that moment, I was focused on our university’s longstanding policies aligned with the Constitution that say speech alone is not punishable,” Magill replied.
In the fallout from that conversation, one major donor has threatened to pull roughly $100 million in funding from the University of Pennsylvania.
Harvard University President Claudine Gay apologized after she gave similar testimony, where she said that a student’s free speech which calls for genocide is against school policy “if it turns into student conduct.”
“We embrace a commitment to free expression, even of views that are objectionable, offensive, hateful,” Gay said. “It’s when that speech crosses into conduct that violates our policies against bullying.”
Gay later clarified that “calls for violence against our Jewish community have no place at Harvard.”
Rabbi David Wolpe resigned from Harvard’s antisemitism advisory board, citing “events on campus” and “painfully inadequate testimony.”
“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country,” said Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson. “Any statements that advocate for the systematic murder of Jews are dangerous and revolting — and we should all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans.”
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