By ANNIE MA (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidents of Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology mentioned Tuesday that they had been taking steps to fight antisemitism on campus because the begin of the Israel-Hamas struggle, together with rising safety and offering extra counseling and psychological well being assist.
In testimony earlier than a House committee, the college leaders mentioned there was a high-quality line between defending free speech and permitting protests, whereas additionally combatting antisemitism.
“Harvard must provide firm leadership in the fight against antisemitism and hate speech even while preserving room for free expression and dissent. This is difficult work, and I admit that we have not always gotten it right,” mentioned Claudine Gay, of Harvard. “As Harvard’s president, I am personally responsible for confronting antisemitism with the urgency it demands.”
Gay, Liz Magill of Penn and Sally Kornbluth of MIT disavowed antisemitism and Islamophobia on their campuses, acknowledging that situations of each had taken place because the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel.
In latest weeks, the federal authorities has opened investigations into a number of universities — together with Penn and Harvard — concerning antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. The Education Department additionally has despatched letters to colleges reminding them of their authorized responsibility to cease harassment that interferes with pupil studying.
All three presidents defended their universities’ response to the incidents.
“As president, I am committed to a safe, secure and supportive educational environment so that our academic mission can thrive,” Magill mentioned in her opening assertion. “As a student of constitutional democracy, I know that we need both safety and free expression for universities and ultimately democracy to thrive. In these times, these competing principles can be difficult to balance, but I am determined to get it right.”
During Tuesday’s listening to earlier than the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Republicans questioned the universities’ report in combatting antisemitism, in addition to their work on points below the umbrella of range, fairness and inclusion.
“For years, universities have stoked the flames of an ideology which goes by many names—anti-racism, anti-colonialism, critical race theory, DEI, intersectionality, the list goes on,” Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the committee chairwoman, mentioned. “And now it is clear that Jews are at the bottom of the totem pole and without protection under this critical theory framework.”
But Democrats famous that Republicans have sought to chop funding to the Education Department, and particularly the Office of Civil rights, which undertakes investigations into points like antisemitism and discrimination on campuses.
Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the committee’s rating Democrat, criticized Republicans for “stoking culture wars” whereas claiming to be combatting discrimination on campus.
“You can’t have it both ways,” Scott mentioned. “You can’t call for action and then hamstring the agency charged with taking that action to protect students’ civil rights.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com”