House education committee requests documents from MIT on campus anti-semitism
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked for records from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday that will be used in its investigation into campus anti-Semitism.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked for records from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday that will be used in its investigation into campus anti-Semitism.
Rep. Dr. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent the letter on Friday morning, following MIT student Talia Khan’s testimony regarding her experience as a Jewish student last week.
”Since the devastating attacks against Israel on October 7th, I have watched in horror as a culture of blatant antisemitism has taken root at MIT. I have witnessed the administration, namely President Sally Kornbluth, fail time and again to address this crisis in any meaningful way. President Kornbluth has watched as violent hatred infects, in broad daylight, an institution which is looked to as a beacon of enlightenment,” Khan said in her testimony to the committee.
”This failure by the MIT administration to protect Jewish students must not be regarded simply as inaction, but rather as a feckless, cowardly, hypocritical, and entirely deliberate choice to remain silent.”
Foxx wrote in her letter on Friday to MIT that she has “grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of MIT’s response to antisemitism on its campus.”
Foxx accused MIT of failing to “condemn anti-Israel campus groups’ endorsement of Hamas’ terrorism against Israel, and referenced an Oct. 8 campus statement by pro-Palestinian groups on campus.
The statement from Palestine @ MIT and MIT Coahtion Against Apartheid stated that they ”hold the Israeli regime responsible for all unfolding violence” and “affirmm the right of all occupied peoples to resist oppression and colonization.”
Notably, the statement was deleted from MIT’s website within the past week, according to cached data.
Foxx asked MIT to produce a list of documents, including the following:
- All reports of antisemitic acts or incidents and related documents and communications since January 1, 2021.
- All documents referring or relating to the findings and results of any disciplinary processes, changes in academic status, or personnel actions by MIT toward MIT students, faculty, staff, and other MIT affiliates related to conduct involving the targeting of Jews, Israelis, Israel, Zionists, or Zionism since January 1, 2021.
- All documents and communications since January 1, 2021, referring and relating to antisemitism and/or Israel involving the MIT Corporation.
- All documents and communications since January 1, 2021, referring and relating to antisemitism, involving the Office of the President, Office of the Provost, Division of Student Life, Institute Community and Equity Office, and/or MIT Police.
Campus Reform reached out to MIT for comment.
