The U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee wrote to leaders of five U.S. departments and agencies—the Department of Energy, Department of Commerce, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency and NASA—on Thursday expressing “deep concern” about rising Jew-hatred at schools that receive federal funding.
“After months of antisemitic protests across university campuses, we’ve witnessed Jewish students verbally abused, physically assaulted and barred entry to schools that they paid to attend,” the committee members wrote. “In some cases, faculty and university leadership participated in these activities.
“This created a hostile environment for the Jewish students and staff that live, work and study at these universities, a potential violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” they added. “By refusing to enforce school policies, and in some cases giving into the demands of agitators, university leadership charged with protecting academic environments contributed to their degradation, allowing for the continuation of a hostile environment.”
Colleges and universities that receive federal funding are required to protect equal opportunities for all students, the members wrote.
“A Title VI statutory violation occurs when a university discriminatorily denies participation of researchers or students in federally supported programs, activities or laboratories or when a university’s response to an alleged violation is deemed inadequate,” they stated.
Each of the five departments and agencies was asked to respond to the committee’s questions and concerns by June 20. In their letters, the committee leaders said the department or agency in question had disbursed millions of dollars in grants to many of the schools implicated in the alleged Title VI infractions.
