Rutgers president called to testify before congressional committee probing antisemitism on college campuses

Rutgers University president Jonathan Holloway is among the latest group of college presidents to be called before a congressional committee probing the handling of antisemitism on college campuses.

He will testify on May 23 before the Committee on Education & the Workforce, along with Michael Schill, president of Northwestern University, and Gene Block, chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, the committee announced Thursday. Among other universities whose presidents have already testified before the committee since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel are the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia.

Both former Penn president Liz Magill and former Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned from their jobs in the aftermath of the contentioushearing and a subsequent bipartisan backlash.

Holloway’s selection comes less than three weeks after the university negotiated a deal with students who had erected a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. The deal was quickly criticized, with one New Jersey senator calling for hearings into the matter and another condemning the university’s action.

» READ MORE: While a few other universities reach compromises with protesters, why can’t Penn?

Rutgers received thousands of emails expressing “frustration or dismay” following the agreement, Holloway said at a board meeting earlier this month.

“The Committee has a clear message for mealy-mouthed, spineless college leaders: Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of your duty to your Jewish students,” U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), chair of the committee, said in a statement. “No stone must go unturned while buildings are being defaced, campus greens are being captured, or graduations are being ruined.”

» READ MORE: Penn weighs risk of removing encampment, saying it ‘is causing fear for many’

Holloway will attend the hearing, Rutgers said in a statement.

Holloway, the school said, will “discuss with committee members how Rutgers has worked to combat antisemitism, advance our educational mission, and handle protests on campus while prioritizing the safety of our students and community members.”

Both Northwestern and UCLA have contended with encampments on their campuses, with Northwestern striking a deal with protesters around the same time as Rutgers.

Foxx noted the “shocking concessions” made by Rutgers and Northwestern in announcing their presidents’ appearances before the committee.

At Rutgers-New Brunswick, a 43,859-student campus, the 75-tent encampment went up in late April and came down peacefully three days later after the agreement was reached.

Rutgers agreed to review as part of the regular university process a demand that the university divest its financial holdings from any firm connected to Israel. The agreement also included commitments for the president and chair of the joint committee on investments to meet with up to five students to discuss their request for Rutgers to divest, the establishment of an Arab Cultural Center and staff training in anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim racism.

In the face of criticism, Holloway said he was confident in the decision, which “allowed us to maintain a safe and controlled environment, to protect Rutgers students and Rutgers property, and to assure that our students’ academic progress — taking finals and completing the semester — was not impeded.”