What happened at CUNY, Georgetown and UC Berkeley that alarmed Congress?
Three major US universities—City University of New York (CUNY), Georgetown University, and the University of California, Berkeley—will testify before Congress over allegations of campus antisemitism. The upcoming hearing before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce follows months of increased scrutiny into how universities handle protests and the safety of Jewish students.The three institutions are the latest to face questions from the Republican-led committee, which previously summoned leaders from Ivy League schools. The focus of this hearing is on “the role of faculty, funding and ideology” in enabling antisemitism, as reported by The New York Times.Congressional scrutiny widens beyond Ivy LeagueAt CUNY, which serves nearly 240,000 students across 26 colleges, federal investigations found that the university mishandled complaints of antisemitism and other bias incidents dating back to 2019. In 2024, pro-Palestinian protests across multiple CUNY campuses resulted in mass arrests. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights concluded that a number of cases had not been properly addressed.CUNY Law School, in particular, has drawn attention due to outspoken pro-Palestinian activism by several graduates. In response to rising concerns, CUNY has taken measures including centralising its bias reporting procedures, deploying more safety officers, and increasing anti-hate training, according to The New York Times.Protests and federal pressure at Georgetown and BerkeleyAt Georgetown University, tensions escalated after the US Attorney for the District of Columbia threatened to ban graduates from federal employment due to the university’s diversity programming. The Georgetown Law School dean described the move as “unconstitutional” in an official statement, as reported by The New York Times.A postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown, Badar Khan Suri, was arrested by US authorities for allegedly promoting antisemitism and “spreading Hamas propaganda” on social media. He was detained for two months before a federal judge ordered his release, citing violations of the First Amendment. The judge stated that the arrest had been made “for punitive reasons,” according to The New York Times.At the University of California, Berkeley, student activists erected tent encampments in 2024 and disrupted an event featuring an Israeli speaker. Protesters reportedly smashed doors, prompting the chancellor at the time to label the incident as “an attack on the fundamental values of the university.” The House committee later demanded documentation of Berkeley’s response to such incidents.Berkeley is also known as the birthplace of the student group Students for Justice in Palestine, which was founded in the early 1990s.Background to the hearingsThese hearings began after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, which led to Israel’s ongoing invasion of Gaza. Republicans expanded their investigations beyond Ivy League institutions following widespread campus protests. President Trump has endorsed punitive action against universities, including the withdrawal of federal funds, as reported by The New York Times.TOI Education is on WhatsApp now. Follow us here.
