A House committee released data this week depicting what its Republican chairwoman called a failure by Columbia University to properly discipline students involved in antisemitic unrest earlier this year, as panel members called out the “blatant inaction.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, who heads up the House Education and Workforce Committee, and panel member Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., separately called the New York City college’s leaders spineless and accused them of giving dangerous behavior a free pass.
“The failure of Columbia’s invertebrate administration to hold accountable students who violate university rules and break the law is disgraceful and unacceptable,” Foxx said in a statement.
Foxx noted that in the approximately four months since the “takeover of Hamilton Hall,” the majority of students involved remain in good academic standing.
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Anti-Israel students at Columbia University set up a campsite on the school’s West Lawn, where they placed tents and demanded administrators divest from Israel and take other steps in support of Hamas’ war on the country. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
In remarks to Fox News Digital, Foxx added that Columbia’s actions therefore “only encourages more of the chaos.”
“You can’t leave bad behavior unpunished and then expect good behavior instead. Columbia’s refusal to hold student perpetrators accountable … puts Jewish students, faculty, and staff at risk as they head back to campus,” she said.
Bean added the school made clear via the statistics in the committee’s report that “pro-terrorist students can break the rules and get off scot-free.”
“The university’s failure to hold these students accountable for spewing hatred against the Jewish community and brutalizing Jewish students is unacceptable,” he said.
Bean blasted the school’s leadership, saying that by doing little or nothing to punish the students, they’ve given a pass to those who should be expelled or prosecuted.
Meanwhile, Foxx suggested the Morningside Heights institution gave students a “get out of jail free card.”
She went on to say no one who burglarizes campus property or creates an environment of bigotry should be given even a “single degree of latitude.
“The university’s willingness to do just that is reprehensible,” said Foxx, who represents the Great Smoky Mountains region.
Fox News Digital also reached out to the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, for his take on the report.
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House Education Committee leaders Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., and Robert “Bobby” Scott, D-VA, speak during a hearing. Scott did not respond to Fox News’ inquiry on the committee’s report on Columbia University students involved in the antisemitic protests earlier this year. (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Foxx said Columbia had pledged to expel students who had occupied Hamilton Hall, and said the fact many participants in the chaos remain in academic good-standing is disconcerting.
Data from a chart listing dates with corresponding campus incidents and numbers of students involved in each appeared to bear out Foxx’s claim.
On April 30, 22 students were arrested after taking over Hamilton Hall. Eighteen remain in good standing, three were suspended and one was put on probation.
All 27 students arrested off campus on May 1 saw their scholastic cases closed due to “insufficient evidence,” and 29 of 35 students who had been placed on interim suspension on April 29 had their punishments lifted.
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A handful of the more than 30 students who camped-out during an alumni weekend were put on conditional disciplinary probation, according to Foxx’s report.
Two students who, on April 20, were accused of helping “non-affiliates” enter Jerome Green Hall and “endangered other students” also remain in good standing.
In response to the report, a Columbia University spokesperson said the school remains committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.
“[We remain committed to] taking sustained, concrete action toward a campus where everyone in our community feels valued and is able to thrive,” the spokesperson said.
“Following the disruptions of the last academic year, Columbia immediately began disciplinary processes, including with immediate suspensions. The disciplinary process is ongoing for many students involved in these disruptions, including some of those who were arrested, and we have been working to expedite the process for this large volume of violations.”
