In response to college presidents reluctant to crack down on anti-Semitic comments, Nikki Haley said the solution was to take away their colleges' tax exemption and ban TikTok.
“It was disgusting to see what happened,” she said of the anti-Semitism hearing on Capitol Hill that drew gasps across the country. “If this had been the KKK protesting on campuses, all these presidents would have taken action, and this is just as bad.”
Harvard President Claudine Gay said calls for the genocide of Jews do not violate the school's code of conduct “unless they translate into action.”
Haley listed a slew of policy changes in higher education:
“It was disgusting to see what happened,” she said of the anti-Semitism hearing on Capitol Hill that drew gasps across the country. “If this had been the KKK protesting on campuses, all these presidents would have taken action, and this is just as bad.”
“We have to take foreign money out of our universities, you have Arab money, Chinese money and many more, and we have to go to every university and say you will either take foreign money or American money, but the day of both is over. And the second thing we need to make is that Biden made a mistake by not including anti-Zionism in the definition of anti-Semitism. If you think Israel has no right to exist, that is anti-Semitism, and third, we should ban TikTok once and for all.”
She said universities should be warned: “If you are not going to protect these students and acknowledge the anti-Semitism, we will take away your tax exemption.”
Universities enjoy non-profit status, which makes them tax-exempt.
Gay said it “depends on the context” whether calling for genocide violates Harvard's rules of conduct, though he called such words “abhorrent.”
Action could only be taken, she said, if the hate speech turned into “behavior.”
After strong backlash and a donor boycott, Harvard's Gay released a statement today insisting she was misunderstood.
“Some have confused the right to free speech with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students.
“Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group, are despicable, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held accountable,” he said. she.
Harvard President Claudine Gay yesterday at congressional hearing where she said calling for genocide of Jews does not violate the school's code of conduct
Gay released the statement Wednesday amid growing calls for her resignation
Elizabeth Magill, Penn's president, also took issue with whether calling for genocide constitutes harassment.
Representative Elise Stefanik asked Magill, “Does the call for genocide of the Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct, yes or no?”
Magill responded, “If the speech turns into behavior, it could be harassment.”
Stefanik highlighted the issue: “I ask specifically: calling for genocide of the Jews, is that bullying or intimidation?”
Magill, an attorney who joined Penn last year with a pledge to promote free speech on campus, responded: “If it is targeted, severe and pervasive, it is harassment.”
Stefanik replied, “So the answer is yes.”
Magill said, “It's a context-sensitive decision, Congressman.”
Today, students from the schools, along with some of the shocked Republicans at the hearing, say it is clear that all three should resign.
The boards of each school – which ultimately decide whether the women will remain in their positions – have yet to make their positions clear.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth – who is Jewish – was also condemned for her comments. She still has to return them
UPenn President Liz Magill has not yet apologized for or retracted her comments
MIT President Sally Kornbluth, when asked the same question, said, “I have not heard a call for the genocide of Jews on our campus.”
Condemnation came from all sides, even from Democrats.
“It is unbelievable that this has to be said: the call for genocide is monstrous and contradictory to everything we represent as a country,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.
On Wednesday evening, Magill also apologized for her words.
“At that moment, I was focused on our university's long-standing policy, consistent with the U.S. Constitution, which states that speech alone is not a crime,” she said in a video. “I wasn't focused on the irrefutable fact, but I should have been, that a call for genocide against Jewish people is a call for the most terrible violence that human beings can commit. It is evil – plain and simple.”