Stefanik targets university presidents over ‘lack of moral clarity’ on antisemitism

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said all three college presidents who testified at a House hearing this week on antisemitism should be fired for their “lack of moral clarity” on the issue.

Stefanik in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal said the presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) had put a focus on antisemitism on elite college campuses.

“This lack of moral clarity is shocking. If only it were surprising. In the months since Oct. 7, the mainstreaming of anti-Jewish hate has been on full display at the poisoned Ivy League and other so-called elite schools, as has the gutless lack of response from university leaders,” Stefanik wrote.  

In a moment at the hearing that went viral on social media, Stefanik asked the three presidents whether a call for Jewish genocide would be considered harassment on their campuses.  

Each president responded similarly, saying it would depend on the context of the calls and if the calls turned into conduct.  

The responses have been defended by free speech advocates who have said it is true that the context and pervasiveness of those types of calls matter, but many have said this defense does not work due to these universities’ history with protecting free speech.  

Stefanik pointed out Harvard placed last on the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s College Free Speech Rankings. She also said there is “hypocrisy” at the schools, which she argued had banned speakers expressing viewpoints they disagreed with.

“The failure to call out and punish those demanding the genocide of Jewish people is the consequence of decades of appeasement of radicalism and watering down of principle at our most hallowed institutions of higher education, which were founded as bastions of moral clarity and the pursuit of truth,” Stefanik said.  

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the chair of the House Education Committee, announced a congressional investigation Thursday into the three schools, going after their disciplinary policies and the type of learning environment at the institutions.  

The president of Harvard has apologized for her testimony during the hearing, and Penn’s president released a statement clarifying her positions, but it has not stopped donors and students from calling for their removal.  

“The leaders of these universities want us to believe they face, through no fault of their own, a predicament for which they have no responsibility or accountability. In fact, they are directly responsible for the vile antisemitic hatred overrunning their campuses,” Stefanik said. 

She concluded that the boards at all three schools should fire the presidents and find leaders who can “restore moral clarity.”