Latest news with #RobertGroves
Fox News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Georgetown professor removed as department chair after publicly hoping for symbolic Iranian strike on US
A professor at Georgetown University has been removed as chair of his department and is on leave after he publicly hoped Iran would launch a "symbolic strike" on a U.S. military base, the university's president said. "I'm not an expert, but I assume Iran could still get a bomb easily. I hope Iran does some symbolic strike on a base, then everyone stops. I'm surprised this is what these FDD/Hasbara people have been auto-erotically asphyxiating themselves for all these years," Dr. Jonathan Brown, the Alwaleed bin Talal chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, posted on X in June after the U.S. struck Iran's nuclear enrichment sites. He added, "Ironically, the main takeaways (in my non-expert opinion, and I'm happy to be corrected) from all this have nothing to do with a US attack: 1) Iran can take a licking; 2) if Israel attacks Iranian cities, it gets f---ed up pretty bad. I mean I've been shocked at the damage Iranian missiles caused; 3) despite his best efforts, Reza Pahlavi HVAC repair services still only third best in Nova." Georgetown University Interim President Robert M. Groves testified to the House Education and Workforce Committee that Brown had been removed as chair of the department and placed on leave following the tweet. He said the university was currently reviewing Brown's case. "Within minutes of our learning of that tweet, the Dean contacted Professor Brown, we issued a statement condemning the tweet. Professor Brown is no longer chair of his department, he's on leave, and we're beginning the process of reviewing the case," Groves testified. The hearing, titled "Antisemitism in Higher Education: Examining the Role of Faculty, Funding, and Ideology," saw testimony from Georgetown President Groves, CUNY Chancellor Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Berkeley Chancellor Dr. Rich Lyons and others. The hearing comes as colleges across the country have been plagued with antisemitism in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks. Brown's comments elicited fierce pushback online, with many outraged over his perceived call for violence against U.S. forces. "I went to graduate school with Jonathan Brown," Jewish People Policy Institute fellow Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn posted on X. "I'm appalled to see him calling for Iran to attack U.S. troops and his awe at attacks on Israeli civilians. @Georgetown- enough!" Brown previously told Fox News Digital that he had been calling for "de-escalation" with Iran, and that his post had been misinterpreted. He said he was hoping for an Iranian response akin to their attack after the U.S. took out Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, in which the Islamic Republic launched ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Iraq but caused no casualties. "I was calling for de-escalation as I am very opposed to American involvement in foreign wars," he said. When asked for comment, Georgetown University referred Fox News Digital to President Grove's testimony.
India Today
16-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
US lawmakers grill university leaders in heated antisemitism hearing
The leaders of three US universities testified before a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday about what they have done to combat antisemitism on campus, saying they were committed to stamping out hatred while protecting academic Tuesday's three-hour hearing, Georgetown University interim President Robert Groves, City University of New York Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez, and University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Richard Lyons came under sharp fire from of them echoed President Donald Trump's recent attacks on universities, which he has described as "infested with radicalism," and questioned whether the presidents were doing enough to protect Jewish students and faculty. "The genesis of this antisemitism, this hatred that we're seeing across our country, is coming from our universities," said Representative Burgess Owens, a Utah was the latest in a series of hearings about antisemitism on campus in which university leaders testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is tasked with higher education on the panel used the session to question the Trump administration's gutting of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, which probes incidents of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. That has led to a backlog in investigations at a time when Republicans say universities are not doing enough to combat US Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the administration to resume dismantling the entire department, part of Trump's bid to shrink the federal role in education and give more control to the Mark Takano, a California Democrat, called the hearing a "kangaroo court.""This scorched earth warfare against higher education will endanger academic freedom, innovative research and international cooperation for generations to come," Takano said, referring to the administration's efforts to cut off funding to some schools, including Harvard and Columbia, and impose other leaders have come under fire from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian communities for their handling of protests that broke out after the 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants and conflict that emerged from it. On some campuses, clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators, spawning antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric and assaults in some the hearing, the university leaders were repeatedly asked about their responses to antisemitic actions by faculty or affiliated Mary Miller, an Illinois Republican, asked Berkeley's Lyons about a February event in which speakers "repeatedly denied that Israeli women were gang-raped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and argued that Israel was weaponising feminism."advertisementLyons said the online event in question was organised by a faculty member but the comments that Miller cited did not come from the Berkeley faculty member. He said the school anticipated that some of the ideas discussed at the event would prove controversial."I did not prevent it from happening because I felt that keeping the marketplace for ideas open was really important in this instance," he hearings held by the panel have led to significant consequences for university December 2023, Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, raised her own political profile by grilling the presidents of Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of asked them whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" would violate their schools' codes of conduct related to bullying and harassment. Each president declined to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer, noting that a wide range of hateful speech is protected under the US Constitution's First Amendment and under university testimony, which many viewed as insensitive and detached, triggered an outcry. More than 70 US lawmakers later signed a letter demanding that the governing boards of the three universities remove the presidents. Soon afterwards, Harvard's Claudine Gay and Penn's Liz Magill President Minouche Shafik resigned in August, following her April testimony before the committee.- EndsMust Watch
Reuters
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US Republicans grill university leaders in latest House antisemitism hearing
July 15 (Reuters) - The leaders of three U.S. universities testified before a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday about what they have done to combat antisemitism on campus, saying they were committed to stamping out hatred while protecting academic freedom. At Tuesday's three-hour hearing, Georgetown University interim President Robert Groves, City University of New York Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez, and University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Richard Lyons came under sharp fire from Republicans. Many of them echoed President Donald Trump's recent attacks on universities, which he has described as "infested with radicalism," and questioned whether the presidents were doing enough to protect Jewish students and faculty. "The genesis of this antisemitism, this hatred that we're seeing across our country, is coming from our universities," said Representative Burgess Owens, a Utah Republican. It was the latest in a series of hearings about antisemitism on campus in which university leaders testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is tasked with higher education oversight. Democrats on the panel used the session to question the Trump administration's gutting of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, which probes incidents of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. That has led to a backlog in investigations at a time when Republicans say universities are not doing enough to combat antisemitism. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the administration to resume dismantling the entire department, part of Trump's bid to shrink the federal role in education and give more control to the states. Representative Mark Takano, a California Democrat, called the hearing a "kangaroo court." "This scorched earth warfare against higher education will endanger academic freedom, innovative research and international cooperation for generations to come," Takano said, referring to the administration's efforts to cut off funding to some schools, including Harvard and Columbia, and impose other sanctions. University leaders have come under fire from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian communities for their handling of protests that broke out after the 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants and conflict that emerged from it. On some campuses, clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators, spawning antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric and assaults in some cases. During the hearing, the university leaders were repeatedly asked about their responses to antisemitic actions by faculty or affiliated scholars. Representative Mary Miller, an Illinois Republican, asked Berkeley's Lyons about a February event in which speakers "repeatedly denied that Israeli women were gang-raped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and argued that Israel was weaponizing feminism." Lyons said the online event in question was organized by a faculty member but the comments that Miller cited did not come from the Berkeley faculty member. He said the school anticipated that some of the ideas discussed at the event would prove controversial. "I did not prevent it from happening because I felt that keeping the marketplace for ideas open was really important in this instance," he said. Previous hearings held by the panel have led to significant consequences for university presidents. In December 2023, Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, raised her own political profile by grilling the presidents of Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She asked them whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" would violate their schools' codes of conduct related to bullying and harassment. Each president declined to give a simple "yes" or "no" answer, noting that a wide range of hateful speech is protected under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment and under university policies. Their testimony, which many viewed as insensitive and detached, triggered an outcry. More than 70 U.S. lawmakers later signed a letter demanding that the governing boards of the three universities remove the presidents. Soon afterwards, Harvard's Claudine Gay and Penn's Liz Magill resigned. Columbia President Minouche Shafik resigned in August, following her April testimony before the committee.
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Political theatre': key takeaways from US universities' House antisemitism hearing
Lawmakers questioned the leaders of the University of California at Berkeley, Georgetown University and the City University of New York in the final antisemitism hearing the House of Representatives has held since the 7 October attacks and ensuing war in Gaza broke out in 2023. Georgetown University's interim president Robert Groves, Cuny's chancellor Félix V Matos Rodríguez and UC Berkeley's chancellor Rich Lyons faced scrutiny from Republican representatives – who questioned the universities' hiring practices, faculty unions, Middle East study centers, foreign funding and DEI initiatives. Congress's preceding antisemitism hearings featured tense exchanges between Republican lawmakers such as representative Elise Stefanik, and precipitated the resignations of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and Columbia. While denouncing antisemitism, Democratic lawmakers spoke out against the focus of the hearing, calling it 'political theatre' and criticizing the Trump administration's gutting of the government agencies that enforce civil rights protections. 'I'd be remiss if I did not point out that this is our ninth hearing on antisemitism in 18 months,' said ranking member Bobby Scott, a Democrat from Virginia. 'I'll also note that since this committee's first antisemitism hearing in December 2023 we have not held a single hearing addressing racism, xenophobia, sexism, Islamophobia or other challenges affecting other student groups on American college campuses.' In their opening statements, each of the university leaders present at Tuesday's hearings began their remarks by condemning antisemitism, and in many cases listing actions their campuses had undertaken to prevent future antisemitism. Georgetown was one of the first campuses to condemn the 7 October attacks, Groves said, adding: that 'Antisemitism is incompatible with living our mission; the same applies to Islamophobia and racism.' 'Berkeley unequivocally condemns antisemitism,' Lyons echoed. He added: 'I am the first to say we have more work to do. Berkeley, like our nation, has not been immune to the disturbing rise in antisemitism.' Matos Rodríguez shared a similar remark: 'Our university has not been immune, but let me be clear: antisemitism has no place at Cuny.' He added that the university now has a zero-tolerance policy toward encampments, like those students established at City College and Brooklyn College in 2024. Democratic lawmakers and witnesses noted that the Trump administration's decision to shutter federal agencies tasked with enforcing civil rights protections will not protect Jewish students on college campuses. 'Antisemitism in America and on campuses is real' but 'this administration's approach is contradictory and counterproductive,' said Matt Nosanchuck, a former deputy assistant secretary for the education department's office for civil rights under the Obama administration. He urged that 'Congress must fulfill its core responsibilites' to give agencies appropriate resources, not conduct political theatre. In his opening remarks, Scott criticized his fellow committee members for saying 'nothing about the firings attacking the office of civil rights' or the supreme court decision allowing the Trump administration to dismantle the Department of Education. The Trump administration closed seven of the office of civil rights' 12 regional offices in March. 'If the majority wanted to fight antisemitism and protect Jewish students, they should condemn antisemitism in their own party and at the highest level of government,' said Democratic representative Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon. 'They have failed to do so. Multiple White House officials have ties to antisemitic extremists.' To begin the hearing, Walberg said that the committee would 'be examining several factors that incite antisemitism on college campuses' including faculty unions and faculty membership in the group Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine. He later questioned Matos-Rodríguez about a Hunter College faculty job posting looking for candidates who could 'take a critical lense' to issues such as 'settler colonialsm, genocide, human rights, apartheid' and others. Matos-Rodríguez called the listing 'entirely inappropriate' and said he ordered it revised immediately upon learning about it. Representative Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, focused her questioning on questions around faculty hiring and union practices. She questioned Matos-Rodríguez on the fact that the president of Cuny's faculty union supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. She also questioned Lyons on Columbia's hiring practices, which she said had allowed antisemitic faculty to join the staff. 'We use academic standards to hire faculty. We don't use ideological conditions to hire faculty,' Lyons said. 'I'm concerned by what I see happening here. Because instead of solving a problem, we're watching some try to use antisemitism as a reason to go after higher education,' said representative Alma Adams, a Democrat from North Carolina. 'Let's not forget as we sit here today, the Department of Education is withholding more than $6bn in congressionally mandated funding from our K-12 schools,' she added. During her questioning Bonamici also questioned whether the antisemitism hearings were motivated by 'plans to defund colleges and universities'. Following an exchange between representative Elise Stefanik of New York and Cuny chancellor Matos Rodríguez, California representative Mark DeSaulnier yielded his time so Matos Rodríguez could 'respond to that outrageous attack by my colleague'. Stefanik had denounced the university for having on its staff an attorney also leading the legal defense fund for Mahmoud Khalil, who she called 'chief pro-Hamas agitator that led to the anti-semitic encampments at Columbia'. Earlier in the hearing, California representative Mark Takano called the committee's hearing 'a kangaroo court'.
Washington Post
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
University leaders face tough questions in House hearing on antisemitism
The leaders of Georgetown University, the City University of New York and the University of California at Berkeley faced harsh questioning from House lawmakers Tuesday during a hearing about antisemitism on college campuses. Robert Groves, Georgetown University's interim president, Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, CUNY's chancellor, and Rich Lyons, UC-Berkeley's chancellor, navigated targeted questions about specific incidents of student and faculty discipline. Groves has been in his position since last year; Matos Rodriguez since 2019; and Lyons since last summer.
