Columbia Pres Asked: 'Does Calling For The Genocide Of Jews Violate Columbia's Code Of Conduct?'

5 months ago

At a House Education Committee hearing last week, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) questioned Columbia University President Minouche Shafik about antisemitism on campus.

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Transcript

00:00I now recognize Ms. Bonamici for five minutes.

00:04Thank you so much to the witnesses for being here today.

00:07I condemn in the strongest possible terms anti-Semitism on college campuses or anywhere,

00:14and it is my sincere hope that this committee will work together on real and tangible solutions

00:19to address it.

00:20We should be hearing from experts who can help the committee determine what the response

00:25should be to an increase in anti-Semitism, as well as Islamophobia, racial hostility,

00:32and other forms of discrimination and hate speech, and whether there are sufficient resources

00:36and tools under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to keep up with this increase.

00:41And it is also my hope that many of you to exploit this real and very concerning challenge

00:46to further political goals or narratives.

00:49So to begin, I would like to clarify something with a simple yes or no question for all of

00:53the witnesses.

00:54Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Columbia's Code of Conduct?

00:59Mr. Greenwald.

01:00Yes, it does.

01:02Ms. Shipman.

01:03Yes, it does.

01:04Dr. Shafiq.

01:05Yes, it does.

01:06And Professor Schisser.

01:07Yes, it does.

01:09Thank you.

01:10And my next question is to Dr. Shafiq, and then I'll have a question for Professor Schisser.

01:14Dr. Shafiq, as president of Columbia, what is it like when you hear chants like, by any

01:19means necessary, or intifada revolution?

01:22And do these chants violate Columbia's rules?

01:27I find those chants incredibly distressing, and I wish profoundly that people would not

01:34use them on our campus.

01:37I wish that even more after the many, many conversations that I've had with our Jewish

01:41students when they tell me how they feel when they hear those words.

01:45They find it threatening.

01:46They find it frightening.

01:48And it's abhorrent and has no place in our community.

01:57I think one of the issues that we are actively debating now, and which David Schisser, I

02:03hope, as part of the anti-Semitism task force, will help us find solutions, as you've asked

02:09for, Congresswoman, is to actually clarify where language crosses the line from protected

02:15speech to discriminatory or harassing speech.

02:21We've already sent a message to our community when all 17 deans of Columbia University,

02:28in a historic message which has never been done before, said that we need to be sensitive

02:33about language.

02:35And some of those expressions that you have said, river to the sea, intifada, are incredibly

02:41hurtful.

02:42And we need to be, as a community, be aware that that language is hurtful.

02:46So we've already sent a strong signal.

02:48I think one of the excellent recommendations of our anti-Semitism task force is that they

02:53have said that if you are going to chant, it should only be in a certain place so people

02:59who don't want to hear it are protected from having to hear it.

03:02Thank you.

03:03I do want time to follow up with Professor Schisser.

03:05Thank you.

03:06Professor Schisser, my husband's grandfather also survived pogroms.

03:11So it means a lot to my family as well.

03:14You heard Dr. Shafik's answer.

03:16We know that you are one of the co-leaders of Dr. Shafik's anti-Semitism task force,

03:21as well as the former law school dean.

03:23So will you please explain the First Amendment considerations behind Columbia's current policies?

03:29So the chants we are hearing, some of them are absolutely repugnant and offensive.

03:35Let's be honest about that.

03:37As we approach what to do, we have to remember three principles.

03:40And the first is free speech matters, protected speech.

03:43We don't want to suppress points of view.

03:46And the second point is we don't just have free speech.

03:48We have free speech responsibilities.

03:50The fact that I can speak doesn't mean, Congresswoman, that I could shout you down or prevent your

03:54students from hearing you.

03:56And third, free speech doesn't extend to harassment and discrimination.

04:01And so what we need to do is we need to make sure that our students are protected from

04:04harassment and discrimination, even as we protect speech.

04:08And on your work on the task force, are you convinced that that work will address that

04:13need?

04:14These are very difficult issues, but I am convinced that we are working closely with

04:18the university and we will get the job done.

04:21Thank you.

04:22And I will yield back the balance of my time.

04:24Thank you very much.

04:25Mr. Wilson, you're recognized for five minutes.

Columbia Pres Asked: 'Does Calling For The Genocide Of Jews Violate Columbia's Code Of Conduct?'

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