US Congressman Jason Smith, who chairs the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee, has sent a letter to the presidents of four major American universities demanding answers to thirteen questions regarding their handling of antisemitism on campus, and warning that the schools could lose their tax-exempt status if they do not address the problem.
“Your institutions are aided by the beneficial treatment provided to nonprofit, tax-exempt entities,” reads the letter, which was sent to the presidents of Harvard, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell.
“[T]here are certain standards your institutions must meet to receive this highly advantageous and preferential treatment.” Smith, a Republican representing southern Missouri, goes on to list the universities’ obligations to provide useful educational services and to comply with anti-discrimination laws.
The letter takes particular aim at Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts, asking the university presidents, “Do your diversity, equity, and inclusion departments serve Jewish students on campus?”
Letter alleges hypocrisy on free speech
Smith invokes the now-infamous congressional hearing last month, when the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania said that speech calling for genocide against the Jewish people were not, in and of themselves, a violation of the universities’ codes of conduct. Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania resigned shortly thereafter amid backlash, and Claudine Gay of Harvard resigned after the hearing brought attention to potential plagiarism in her academic work.
The congressman called these answers “disappointing,” “lackluster,” and “disturbing.” “Free speech should be protected — even speech we disdain,” he says later in the letter. “But your universities have long practiced the protection of preferred speech rather than truly protecting all speech.”
The letter comes on the heels of another, bipartisan letter by Reps. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankord (R-OK), co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, calling for a full Senate education committee hearing on rising antisemitism on college campuses.