First on FoxHouse members are taking steps to ensure that universities that receive federal money are complying with civil rights laws, while a broader effort is underway in the House to crack down on universities. Anti-Semitism on college campuses,
The Energy and Commerce Committee and the Education and the Workforce Committee on Wednesday sent a joint letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra asking if there have been any complaints of “unacceptable anti-Semitic behavior.” educational institutions Obtaining federal grants.
According to the NIH Grants Policy Statement, HHS provides federal funding to universities through National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, which require that institutions receiving funding be free from discriminatory harassment.
“These concerns arise from unacceptable anti-Semitic activity observed on college campuses — including camping, calls for violence, and severe disruptions to teaching and research environments,” the letter, first obtained by Fox News Digital, reads.
Jewish Democrat sues Harvard for anti-Semitism, criticizes his party for inaction, supports Trump
Anti-Israel protesters gather at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 14, 2023. (Joseph Prezioso/Getty Images)
The letter notes that the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) provides guidance about what is and is not allowed on campus, as well as how people can be protected under federal civil rights laws, but calls for further action to be taken.
“Simply issuing guidance does not demonstrate that HHS OCR is taking proactive steps to ensure that universities or institutions are complying with federal civil rights laws, particularly with regard to anti-Semitism,” the lawmakers wrote. “This is particularly concerning when universities that receive hundreds of millions of dollars in funding each year from HHS — such as Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles, among others listed in our letters issued on anti-Semitism concerns — are under active investigation by the U.S. Department of Education OCR for potential violations of Title VI.”
The lawmakers have requested HHS to provide a list of all documents documenting all misconduct allegations and communications at NIH-funded institutions related to alleged anti-Semitic incidents from fiscal year 2023 to the present, by October 2, 2024.
“When a doctor takes the Hippocratic Oath, he or she vows to do no harm and treat all patients with respect. Unfortunately, it appears that medical institutions funded by HHS — including Columbia — are not living up to that standard as they allow anti-Semitism to flourish,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The goal of our committees is to ensure that no patient, professional or student is subjected to discrimination, and certainly not on the taxpayer’s dime.”
Anti-Israel protesters protest the Israel-Hamas war at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin on April 29, 2024. (Getty Images)
An HHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “HHS has received the letter and will respond directly to the Committee. The Department and its operating divisions are committed to ensuring that HHS-funded institutions are free from harassment and discrimination, including the abhorrent rise of anti-Semitism in the United States.”
The committees sent a similar letter, which Fox received. columbia university Consideration was given to whether the university was “maintaining a safe environment for all members” as a recipient of funding through the HHS grant.
According to HHS’s public page on NIH funding, Columbia University received $611,173,605 in NIH grants in fiscal year 2024.
The letter, addressed to interim President Katrina Armstrong, comes as part of an ongoing investigation at the university following anti-Israel protests on the Ivy League campus during the spring semester.
Police officers fence off the site of an anti-Israel protest at Columbia University. (Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo)
In their letter, the lawmakers requested that Columbia provide all complaints about “hostile environment based on anti-Semitic discrimination, harassment, or safety concerns” the university has received, along with details about how they were resolved.
Columbia University did not do this respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Click here to get the Fox News app
“We are seeing health organizations, practices, schools, and federations adopting radical political stances whose only practical effect is to exclude Jews, as well as even more blatant efforts to exclude Jewish members of our community,” Evan Bernstein, vice president of community relations for the Jewish Federations of North America, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “We are hearing more and more concerns about this from our federation communities across the U.S., so we decided it was time to come to Washington to sound the alarm.”
