In preparation for their appearance before the committee on May 7, the Congressional Committee on Education and Workforce sent all three college presidents called to testify a letter outlining their reasons for calling on each college’s leadership to answer for their responses to alleged antisemitism on their campuses.
“The upcoming hearing,” it declared, “will enable the Committee to hear from you firsthand, President Raymond, about incidents of antisemitism that have taken place on campus under your watch, any disciplinary actions the college has taken in response to these incidents, and any broader changes that the school has made to address campus antisemitism.”
Signed by committee chairmen Tim Walberg and Burgess Owens, the letter addresses concerns about rising antisemitism on college campuses following the October 7 attacks, and outlines the present evidence of antisemitism manifesting at Haverford. The key evidence presented by the letter are the Anti-Defamation League’s second annual Campus Antisemitism Report Card, — which gave Haverford College an F grade — a statement by Raymond acknowledging “‘growing concern about antisemitism on [Haverford’s] campus,'” and two campus events which garnered backlash from attendees who found that they “promoted a culture of antisemitic discrimination.”
The two specific events cited were a teach-in held by Bi-Co Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on March 27, 2024 advertised as a “teach-in on how Israel uses COVID as a tool for settler colonialism in Palestine,” and a Meeting the Moment event on October 23, 2024 featuring a lecture title “Judaism Does (Not) Equal Zionism: Exploring American Jews’ Complicated Relationship to Israel/Palestine,” given by Rebecca Alpert, Professor of Religion Emeritus at Temple University.
The committee continues by giving legal standards for congress’ power to investigate, and states that “The information gathered will also aid the Committee in considering whether potential legislative changes, including legislation to specifically address antisemitic discrimination, are needed.”
The letter then provides a list of documents to be presented to the committee by April 30. The list focuses on gathering evidence for changes made to the Honor Code, social conduct policy, or masking policy since October 7, 2023, and further requests all documents describing the relationship between the college and “the Haverford Students for the Liberation of Palestine, Haverford Students for Justice in Palestine, Haverford Students for Peace, and Haverford Jewish Voices for Peace groups (otherwise known as Bi-Co Students for Peace, Bi-Co Students for the Liberation of Palestine, BiCo Students for Justice in Palestine, and Bi-Co Jewish Voices for Peace), including any registration documentation, any documentation of college funding of these organizations, such as through student activities fees, and any documentation relating to past sanctioning of these organizations.”
