University presidents testify as US colleges see more protests

Demonstrators on the University of California Los Angeles campus staged a sit-in at Dodd Hall Thursday afternoon.  

Protesters were also gathered outside the building on the steps and across the street. Many were heard shouting, “Divest now!”

Demonstrators were only letting certain people in and out of the building, a CNN crew observed. At one point a photographer was pushed out of the building and fell to the ground, but the demonstration appears largely peaceful. 

The initial law enforcement presence has dwindled and only security guards appear to be on site as of 3:30 p.m. PT.

CNN has reached out to UCLA for comment.

Police officers at UCLA are engaging with pro-Palestinian protesters, who have been directed to disperse immediately, as seen in aerial footage from CNN affiliate KABC.

A group of officers in riot gear and a group of protesters was seen pushing against each other briefly. A large group of protesters could then be seen moving down the street. Other formations of officers were viewed in the vicinity of the protest. 

“The Office of the Administrative Vice Chancellor, in partnership with the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Safety, has withdrawn consent to remain on campus for the demonstrators on Kerckhoff patio, asking them to disperse immediately,” a statement from UCLA Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck and Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Safety Rick Braziel said.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block testified during the House hearing on antisemitism on campus earlier today.

From left: Michael Schill, president of Northwestern University, Jonathan Holloway, president of Rutgers University, Frederick M. Lawrence, secretary and CEO, The Phi Beta Kappa Society, and Gene Block, chancellor of the UCLA, during a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 23.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s hearing on campus antisemitism Thursday came with no shortage of fiery exchanges between lawmakers and the heads of Northwestern University, Rutgers University, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

This was the committee’s first hearing since the formation of pro-Palestinian protest encampments at schools nationwide. Demonstrators calling for an end to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and divestment from Israel-linked entities seriously disrupted campus life at all three of the schools. Lawmakers used the hearing to scrutinize the administrations’ response.

Here’s what happened on Capitol Hill:

University heads can’t win: Northwestern President Michael Schill and Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway negotiated with protesters rather than authorizing police to disband encampments, which UCLA Chancellor Gene Block ultimately did.

Both approaches received considerable rebuke from lawmakers on the Republican-led committee, though some Democratic lawmakers commended the negotiations.

But Block was also criticized by some lawmakers for not authorizing police to step in sooner, and he faced particular rebuke from Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who focused on an April 30 incident in which a group of people attacked the school’s pro-Palestinian encampment for hours without intervention by law enforcement. Omar referenced a CNN report on the attackers, many of whom expressed pro-Israel sentiments.

Limited consequences so far: In one of the hearing’s tensest exchanges, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik slammed Schill for not taking action over allegations that a person told a Jewish student at the school to “go back to Germany and get gassed.”

Schill said he heard about that happening and “it is being investigated.” So far, no students who are being investigated for various alleged acts of antisemitism have been expelled or suspended, he said.

Rutgers’ Holloway and UCLA’s Block similarly said the universities have many active investigations underway. Holloway said his school has suspended four people and 19 others have received additional disciplinary actions.

A bounty of lawyerly responses: If you tuned in to Thursday’s hearing and thought the responses university heads gave were pre-rehearsed, it’s because they likely were.

The three university heads at the hearing had the advantage of learning from the prior campus hearings. They leaned into giving lawyerly responses, especially in tense lines of questioning, to avoid being cornered into taking a stance on divisive issues.

Schill also declined multiple times to discuss specific staff members or students raised by committee members.

Graduating students walk out of the he 373rd Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in support of 13 students not able to graduate because of their participation in pro-Palestinian protests in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 23.

As the House hearing was still happening, over a thousand people walked out of Harvard’s commencement ceremony on Thursday in protest of the university’s decision to bar 13 senior undergraduates from participating over their pro-Palestinian activities, according to the school newspaper.

Those who left the ceremony also chanted “let them walk,” according to the Harvard Crimson.

Video and photos from the commencement show people in caps and gowns walking in a street holding signs and chanting pro-Palestinians slogans. Several flew Palestinian flags, and someone beat a drum in time with the chants.

Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber, acknowledged the recent turmoil on campus at the start of his remarks.

“As our ceremony proceeds, some among us may choose to take the liberty of expressing themselves to draw attention to events unfolding in the wider world. It is their right to do so. But it is their responsibility to do so with our community — and this occasion — in mind,” he said.

A screengrab from a video shows a barricade set up by protesters today on UCLA’s campus in Los Angeles, CA.

A pro-Palestinian protest encampment has resurfaced on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department is on tactical alert, meaning all officers in the city are on standby, but they have not been called to respond to campus, according to Officer Drake Madison.

Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA want others to join the protest, according to the group’s Instagram story.

Aerial footage from CNN affiliate KABC shows about two dozen protesters marching with signs outside the encampment.

Protesters have set up barricades, according to footage from CNN affiliate KCAL and KCBS, which also show people in yellow vests. A sign with “end police terror” could also be seen.

Some context: Thursday’s demonstration comes about three weeks after violent clashes led to a large encampment being disbanded by the law enforcement.

CNN’s Chris Boyette contributed to this reporting.

The post has been updated with more details from the scene at UCLA.

Committee chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) speaks during a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, on Capitol Hill in Washington, today.

Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, the chair of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, closed today’s hearing by vowing the lawmakers would take further action to investigate antisemitism on college campuses.

Today’s hearing was characterized by at-times rough questioning from the Republican majority on the committee, with members accusing the university leaders of failing to protect Jewish students. Some of the committee’s Democratic members painted the Republican questioning as political grandstanding, and highlighted instances in which the schools successfully engaged with student protesters — or failed to protect them from violent counterprotesters.

Dr. Jonathan Holloway, the President of Rutgers University, testifies at today's hearing called "Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos" before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Capitol Hill. University leaders are being asked to testify by House Republicans about how colleges have responded to pro-Palestinian protests and allegations of antisemitism on their campuses.

Wisconsin Republican Rep. Glenn Grothman hammered the president of Rutgers University on an agreement the school made with protesters to allow admission to displaced Palestinians.

Grothman said that in the school’s agreement with demonstrators who set up an encampment on campus, the university agreed to set aside 10 spaces for displaced Palestinian students to finish their education at Rutgers.

The Republican lawmaker asked Rutgers President Dr. Jonathan Holloway if he considered that a violation of anti-discrimination law.

Grothman, cutting Holloway off, said the agreement appeared to reward Palestinians for the “trouble they are causing and the hate they are encouraging.” He accused Rutgers of giving support to Palestinian students that isn’t being given to others.

“Rutgers is one of the most diverse campuses, universities in the country,” Holloway said, reiterating that there are already programs in place to help refugee students.

Rep Ilhan Omar speaks during the House Education Committee on Education & the Workforce in Washington, DC, today.

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has taken aim at University of California, Los Angeles, President Gene Block, asking him why he didn’t take action sooner to stop violence against protesters on the campus.

Omar noted that external agitators were present at UCLA protests, who were not students.

“Why have the violent agitators, who you know have been identified, not been held accountable for assaulting over 150 of your students?” she asked.

Some background: Law enforcement stood by for hours without intervening as a group of people, many of whom expressed pro-Israel sentiments at the time or on social media, attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on April 30.

Many of the assailants hid their faces behind masks and scarves, but posts on social media and a CNN investigation earlier this month unmasked some of the violent counterprotesters.

Omar referenced the CNN report in questioning Block on why further action hadn’t been taken against the attackers.

Rep. Haley Stevens speaks during the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing on antisemitism on college campuses today on Capitol Hill.

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens blasted Republican members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for “pretending” to care about equity during today’s hearing.

Stevens brought up a legislation that failed during the 2022 term of Congress that would have excluded LGBTQ+ students from receiving mental health care on campuses.

Stevens added that she hoped those members would not vote to exclude other students from minority groups as well.

“We have tons of issues before us in this country, and frankly those who pretend to care about equity, as we have seen time and time again in this committee, is an outrage. It is an absolute outrage,” Stevens said.

She added:

Northwestern University president Michael Schill testifies during a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing on pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on May 23.

Northwestern President Michael Schill, Rutgers President Dr Jonathan Holloway, and Dr. Gene Block, from UCLA are appearing before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing to address antisemitism on university campuses.

In it, the university presidents have been asked about their responses to the pro-Palestinian encampments on campus, and how they have responded to antisemitism on campus.

At times exchanges between the university presidents and lawmakers have been tense.

If you’re just joining us, let us break it down for you.

Here are some of the key things we’ve learned from the hearing so far:

Student suspensions across campus: At Northwestern, no students have been suspended or expelled yet as the university investigates allegations of antisemitism. At Rutgers University, investigations are underway which have led to the suspension of four students, with 19 others receiving disciplinary actions. At UCLA, over 100 investigations are still underway – so few students have been disciplined yet.

Fiery exchanges between Republicans and Schill: Schill has endured the brunt of much of the questioning this morning. He declined multiple times to discuss specific staff members or students when questioned about what Republican Rep. Tim Walberg described as antisemitic rhetoric. Schill said the university is creating a task force with faculty, staff and administrators who are “committed to fighting antisemitism, and as committed to fighting antisemitism as I am.”

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik took aim at Schill about allegations of abuse toward Jewish students on Northwestern campus.

Rep. Jim Banks, a Republican from Indiana also called Schill’s testimony “embarrassing.”

Police not called: Schill told the Committee that bringing in police as an option to de-escalate the protests on campus was not possible because it would not have ensured safety.