WASHINGTON – Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chair Burgess Owens (UT-04) today participated in an Education and the Workforce hearing titled “Columbia in Crisis: Columbia University’s Response to Antisemitism.” 

During the hearing, Rep. Owens pressed Columbia President Minouche Shafik on the university’s response to antisemitic incidents on campus.

The experience of Jewish students at @Columbia reminds me of my own experiences with hatred, denigration, and bigotry in the 1960s deep south. Campus leaders need to stand up to pro-Hamas activists and stand for a safe learning environment for ALL students. pic.twitter.com/I83rVe6iJx

— Rep. Burgess Owens (@RepBurgessOwens) April 17, 2024

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Rep. Owens asked President Shafik if university policy would be different if the students being attacked based on their identity were Black rather than Jewish, pointing out the double standard that exists at Columbia regarding anti-Jewish hate.

“Would Black students be forced to attend the class of a tenured Columbia professor who, while discussing the massacre of Black men, women, and children – if Black girls were raped and Black men lynched – would speak in glowing terms of the event as ‘stunning, awesome, and astonishing,’” asked Rep. Owens.

President Shafik responded by saying such a situation would “absolutely not” be tolerated on Columbia’s campus. Yet, Professor Joseph Massad, a 20-year tenured faculty member who described the October 7th attack on Israel as “stunning, awesome, and astonishing,” is still teaching Middle East studies classes at Columbia.

“What truly speaks volumes regarding the moral compass of Columbia is that this rabid anti-Semite is still on your payroll today,” continued Rep. Owens.

Rep. Owens finished his testimony by questioning how international students who disrupt campus learning, attend hateful demonstrations, and threaten their fellow students are allowed to graduate with a degree.

.@RepBurgessOwens: "How does this work?"

International students:

-pay @Columbia $90,000 a year
-skip classes to demonstrate
-bully Americans
-burn American flags
-stop traffic
-shout "Death to America"

And somehow still get a degree? pic.twitter.com/HZ54KwJrBu

— House Committee on Education & the Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) April 17, 2024

Click here or above to watch

Click here to watch the full hearing.

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