Condemning Antisemitism on University Campuses and the Testimony of University Presidents in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce

Floor Speech

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Mr. KILEY. Mr. Speaker, for nearly four centuries Harvard has been known for many great things: as America's first college, as the alma mater of eight Presidents, as the most fertile of ground for new ideas and cutting-edge research.

Yet now, in this moment, Harvard has become known for a truly terrible thing--for anti-Semitism, for leading a 21st century American resurgence of one of the world's most ancient and retrograde prejudices. This is in large part because of the words and action, as well as the silence and inaction of President Claudine Gay.

We have all now seen the shocking testimony from last week, but to borrow a phrase from Dr. Gay, we need to also look at the context, the context of Harvard having the very worst ranking in the entire country for protecting free speech; the context of President Gay initially refusing to condemn the Hamas terrorist attack and then refusing to condemn the student groups that blamed Israel; the context of Harvard's woefully inadequate measures to protect Jewish students both before October 7 but especially after, to the point that at the hearing, President Gay refused to even answer the question as to whether a Jewish student can feel safe and welcome on her campus.

That Harvard has declined to remove President Gay, even after Penn forced out its president, speaks volumes about the singular failures of that university.

Yet, Harvard also offers a broader window into what ails higher education in our country.

This is a moment of reckoning for American higher education. Our universities cost too much, deliver too little value to graduates, and have become the most intolerable places in American life.

Now is the time for fundamental change to reform the American university, and this resolution is a first step.

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