Statements From the April 17 Congressional Committee Hearing Columbia News

Table Of Content

• a. Columbia Took Immediate Action to Provide Physical Safety on Campus
• Unconfirmed Su to Testify as Foxx Conducts Oversight of Department of Labor
• Foxx, Steel Warn of Considerable Fraud Within Student Financial Aid System
• Education & Labor Committee Releases 2021 Year in Review
• How Democrats Delivered for the American People in the 117th Congress
• d. Trustee Task Force on Antisemitism and Other Efforts by the Trustees
• a. Updated Event Policies

A member of a joint program between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia, he was in the crowd watching Johnson speak. He said he feels safe on campus but understands why others do not and that his roommate booked a last-minute flight home over safety concerns. Davis said people have thrown things at members of his Jewish fraternity. House Democrats descended Monday onto Columbia’s campus to express outrage over antisemitic harassment of Jewish students on and around campus. They included Jewish Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Dan Goldman (N.Y.), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.) and Kathy Manning (N.C.). The head of a prestigious US university clashed with members of Congress on Wednesday in highly charged hearings over a reported upsurge in antisemitism on campus in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza.

a. Columbia Took Immediate Action to Provide Physical Safety on Campus

We’ve also brought in significant outside investigative help to assist in efficient processing of harassment and discrimination complaints, and to allow a more rapid administration of justice. I recognize that a problem as deeply entrenched and critical as antisemitism must be addressed with consistent communication between University leadership and our broader community. It was therefore important to me to open a direct channel of communication with students to ensure we were incorporating a diverse array of feedback. I have had about 20 meetings with groups of students to discuss these issues. In the months after the October 7 attack, I began hosting smaller biweekly listening forums where students can share their feedback directly. These sessions are meant to be safe, respectful, and compassionate spaces for students to express their thoughts and to engage in meaningful dialogue.

Unconfirmed Su to Testify as Foxx Conducts Oversight of Department of Labor

I can tell you plainly that I am not satisfied with where Columbia is at this moment. This role is one of the great privileges of my life, and I take the weight of its responsibility seriously. When the university combats antisemitism and other forms of hate, it is essential also to protect academic freedom. Needless to say, members of our community are free to hold different views on the Israeli government and its policies, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Just as Israelis regularly criticize their own government and its policies, it is appropriate (and not antisemitic) for others to do so as well.

Foxx, Steel Warn of Considerable Fraud Within Student Financial Aid System

We began by focusing on the many campus protests since October 7, which have contributed to a tense campus climate. Last month, we issued a report on the rules governing protests, which offered four main recommendations. DxD has already hosted events focused on facilitating effective and respectful dialogues amongst those with differing opinions. These events were wonderful learning experiences on a wide range of topics and demonstrations that those with differing opinions can have productive debates and discussions—even regarding high-stakes issues.

First, I will focus on my experience with antisemitism as an American Jew. Finally, I will discuss some of the steps that the University has taken, including steps the Trustees have taken, to address antisemitism on our campuses. I am thankful that President Shafik, my co-chair David Greenwald, and I have been able to work collaboratively together—and with the rest of the Board and the administration. I am especially thankful to have President Shafik leading Columbia during this time of turmoil.

Education & Labor Committee Releases 2021 Year in Review

These locations are intended to be prominent and central, while limiting interference with ongoing University activities and ensuring that students who wish to stay away from these demonstrations can avoid them. If students wish to hold a demonstration outside of one of these designated areas, they must seek approval. All demonstrations require two working days’ advance registration to ensure that Columbia has time to make necessary safety preparations. Finally, students may not promote a demonstration on campus until after their registration is approved. The policy also lays out a clear procedure for adjudication of alleged violations and consequences for students and student groups who break the rules. University leadership is working with the University Senate—a faculty-led University-wide policymaking body—and relevant internal stakeholders on a longer-term review of our event policies.

The days immediately following October 7 are the most painful I have experienced on our campus. I knew, as word of the horrific Hamas terrorist attack started to spread, that the tragedy would have a devastating impact, especially on our Jewish students. Two days later, President Shafik and I joined hundreds of members of our community for a somber, candlelight vigil on the steps of Low Library. It is difficult, and heartbreaking, to hear, as we do regularly, that members of our community feel unsafe. I am a parent of college-age children, I know dozens of students at Columbia, and I feel this current climate on our campus viscerally.

d. Trustee Task Force on Antisemitism and Other Efforts by the Trustees

Shafik – an Egyptian-born, British-American economist and former deputy governor of the Bank of England – had reportedly prepared assiduously for Wednesday’s event in an effort to avoid the pitfalls of her fellow university heads. Columbia has set up a taskforce on antisemitism but its members have declined to establish a firm definition. The hearing was something of a reprise of the committee’s previous cross-examination of the heads of three other elite universities, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, last December. In 2017 I proudly accepted the American Jewish Committee’s Learned Hand Award. The Learned Hand Award is given to outstanding leaders in the legal profession who exemplify the integrity and high principles that Judge Hand stood for.

Statements From the April 17 Congressional Committee Hearing - Columbia University

Statements From the April 17 Congressional Committee Hearing.

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a. Updated Event Policies

Columbia’s mission—to support research and teaching on global issues—is even more critical. Clarifies that older job applicants are protected from age discrimination under federal law. Addresses the recent rise in child abuse and neglect by funding networks of prevention services that are designed to strengthen families and improve the quality of child protective services. Provided children with healthy meals over the summer and will ensure that schools and daycares can respond to supply chain challenges and high food costs for the coming school year. Allowed families in-need to use their WIC benefits to purchase safe and available infant formula product in response to the infant formula shortage.

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It also became clear that our policies and structures in place were not well designed to cope with the unprecedented scale of the challenges we faced. To address this, I along with my colleagues immediately put in place changes. We updated our policies and procedures to respond to the events on our campus, with the goal of ensuring safe and responsible events such that all members of our community can participate in their academic pursuits without fear for their safety. We launched an updated reporting and response process in an effort to make it easier to report allegations of hate speech, harassment, and other forms of disruptive behavior, including antisemitic behavior. This included improved training processes on Title VI and reporting obligations for staff working with students and groups, enhanced reporting channels, and supplementing internal resources through a team of outside investigators.

I also have devoted years of my life to combatting antisemitism, including as CEO of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee or “JDC,” a Jewish humanitarian organization. In addition to these community-wide events, the University is providing professional development and training opportunities for faculty through the DxD program. Their charge is to develop a forum for feedback and suggest improvements. The University began responding immediately after the terrorist attack on October 7.

Students are asking for more events that involve dialogue on the larger issues and can have more conversations with each other. And in the cases where violations occur, we are seeing faster-paced discipline. Our hope is that the changes described here will enable our Jewish community members to feel safe, secure, and welcome at Columbia.

Invests in high-poverty schools with facilities that pose health and safety risks to students and staff, creates over 2 million construction jobs, and expands schools’ access to high-speed broadband. House Republicans have been pummeling the heads of elite university institutions for months, using them as a punching bag to make a broader point about how out-of-touch elite institutions are with normal Americans. Johnson has previously invited Jewish students to meet with him in the Capitol, and he has often allowed them to tell their stories of being under attack at school during news conferences.