MIT student urges Biden to denounce antisemitism on campuses during SOTU
MIT graduate student Talia Khan joins 'America's Newsroom' to discuss the 'trauma' of antisemitism on college campuses ahead of President Biden's State of the Union Address, which she will attend as House Speaker Mike Johnson's guest.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is asking the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to produce a trove of documents, citing an investigation into the school's response to antisemitism and its "failure" to protect Jewish students.
The Committee, led by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., wrote to MIT President Sally Kornbluth and MIT Corporation Chair Mark P. Gorenberg on Friday regarding "pervasive" antisemitism following "numerous deeply troubling incidents and developments" at the university.
Foxx wrote in the letter, "We have grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of MIT's response to antisemitism on its campus."
The demands from Congress come after Kornbluth made numerous statements on December 5 that the Committee said called into question MIT's willingness to address antisemitism seriously.
MIT PROFESSOR PENS EXPOSE OF CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM: ‘HARASSING A SMALL AND VULNERABLE COMMUNITY’
Dr. Sally Kornbluth, President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, testifies before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 05, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Amid widespread backlash following her testimony, the MIT corporation said Kornbluth had done "excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate, all of which we reject utterly at MIT, She has our full and unreserved support."
Foxx claimed the MIT Corporations' assessment stands at odds with the experiences of many Jewish MIT students, noting that a survey of 75 Jewish students found that 59% had experienced antisemitism since October 7 and 73% did not feel comfortable publicly being Jewish, Israeli or supportive of Israel on MIT's campus.
Many of the Committee's concerns stemmed from the actions of the MIT Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA), which issued a statement in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks. The group said they "hold the Israeli regime responsible for all the unfolding violence" and "affirm the right of all occupied peoples to resist oppression and colonization."
Foxx said MIT leadership has failed to condemn the group's "endorsement of Hamas' terrorism."
The Committee listed several examples where CAA had disrupted classes, harassed Jewish students, promoted violence and violated MIT rules.
A "Coalition Against Apartheid" poster on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (Getty Images)
Most recently, CAA conducted a protest on February 12, which violated multiple MIT rules and engaged in "hateful chants" such as "from the river to the sea."
"Amid heightened scrutiny of the proliferation of antisemitism on its campus, MIT eventually suspended CAA for violating the Institute's rules on February 13, 2024. However, MIT appears not to be enforcing this suspension," Foxx claimed.
The Committee said MIT honored a CAA student activist who publicly endorsed Hamas' attacks with a speaking role at a recent MLK Celebration Gala. On March 3, CAA members and supporters blocked MIT's main entrance and chanted, among other things, "Long live the Intifada."
Foxx also took issue with instances where MIT faculty and staff had made "antisemitic remarks" and "justified Palestinian terrorism."
LOS ANGELES HIGH SCHOOL SUED OVER 'RACIALLY DIVISIVE, ANTI-SEMITIC' IDEOLOGY
The Maclaurin Buildings on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (Getty Images)
"MIT's hypocrisy and selective enforcement of Institute rules, as outlined above, exposes the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of its leadership's rationalizations for their inaction towards antisemitism on campus," Foxx continued.
The Committee has asked MIT to produce a slew of items no later than 5:00 PM on March 22.
This includes but is not limited to all reports of antisemitic acts or incidents and related documents and communications, all documents containing MIT disciplinary processes, including actions taken against students, faculty and groups, MIT corporation meetings and minutes, policies concerning and accepting and rejecting donations from foreign sources and all products of diversity, equity and inclusion since January 1, 2023.
MIT told Fox News Digital, "We have received the Committee’s letter and are examining it. MIT is committed to providing a response to the Committee’s questions."
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