House Education Committee Adds Rutgers University to its Anti-Semitism Investigation

Rutgers official — Original Caption: Located on the corner of George and Somerset Streets, the Class of 1883 Gate serves as the main entrance to the Old Queens 2020

The U.S. House Education Committee has sent a letter to Rutgers University requesting information regarding its handling of anti-semitism on campus, adding the university to its list of schools being investigated.

“The Committee on Education and the Workforce is investigating Rutgers University’s response to antisemitism and its failure to protect Jewish students. I have grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of Rutgers’ response to antisemitism on its campuses,” Chairwoman Virginia Foxx wrote.

The letter is similar to ones sent to Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Columbia University.

“Rutgers stands out for the intensity and pervasiveness of antisemitism on its campuses. Rutgers senior administrators, faculty, staff, academic departments and centers, and student organizations have contributed to the development of a pervasive climate of antisemitism,” the letter continued.

The committee’s investigation is in addition to the U.S. Department of Education’s ethnic discrimination investigation into the University, although they did not specify the nature of the investigation.

Schools that receive federal funds must comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law that bars discrimination based on shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics or national origin. Failure to comply can result in the loss of federal funds.

Rutgers, whose main campus is in New Brunswick, has one of the largest populations of Jewish students of any public school in the country, according to Hillel International.

Late last year, Lakewood resident Ralph Zucker, the founder of Inspired by Somerset Development, suspended his longstanding relationship with the Rutgers Center for Real Estate, a division of the Rutgers University Business School, due to the disturbing rise of anti-semitism on the university’s campus.

Zucker’s announcement followed public backlash due to a pro-Palestinian speech on campus by whom New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer described as “two well-known antisemites.”

In December, the University announced that a “chancellor advisory group” will be created to address “the rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia on the New Brunswick campus.”