On May 7, 2025, the House Committee on Education and Workforce (the “Committee”) hosted a hearing titled, “Beyond the Ivy League: Stopping the Spread of Antisemitism on American Campuses.” The hearing, which lasted over three hours, featured three Majority witnesses: (1) Dr. Wendy Raymond, the President of Haverford College, (2) Dr. Robert Manuel, the President of DePaul University, and (3) Dr. Jeffrey Armstrong, the President of California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo). The Minority witness was Mr. David Cole, the Hon. George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University Law Center and the former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The key takeaways from the hearing are summarized below:

• Majority Committee members emphasized the “pervasiveness” of antisemitism on university campuses, noting that the problem goes beyond the Ivy League and impacts institutions of higher education regardless of size, location or other factors. Chairman Walberg (R-MI) said in his opening statement that it is the Committee’s responsibility to “unearth and address antisemitism” at smaller and lesser-known schools.

• Majority Members focused their questions on specific allegations of antisemitism on university campuses and at pro-Palestinian encampments and any disciplinary action that was taken in response. Rep. Stefanik (R-NY) quoted extensively from a civil lawsuit filed against a university for such allegations.

• University presidents were asked about the distinction between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, with Majority Members stating that anti-Zionist and anti-Israel statements were expressions of antisemitism on campus.

• Several Majority Members noted diversity, equity and inclusion practices in higher education and suggested that such practices restrict conservative speech and suppress viewpoint diversity. Several members asked the witnesses about the numbers of conservative/Republican faculty members on their campuses.

• Majority Members threatened at least one university with federal funding cuts and called on the Department of Education to investigate allegations of antisemitism.

• Majority Members accused universities of creating a “hostile environment” for Jewish students by permitting certain antisemitic and anti-Zionist speech, which they contended constitutes discrimination on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry).

• Minority Members focused on free speech and civil liberties issues, and they also repeatedly pointed out that the administration’s cuts to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights would severely hobble efforts to investigate and address antisemitism and other forms of discrimination on university campuses.

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