House committee hears university leaders, civil‑rights lawyer on rise of antisemitism and enforcement gaps on campuses

WASHINGTON — University leaders and a former Department of Education civil‑rights official told the House Committee on Education and Labor on Friday that antisemitism on American college campuses has increased since Oct. 7, 2023, while enforcement tools and capacity to investigate complaints have been diminished.

The hearing brought together Robert M. Groves, interim president of Georgetown University; Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY); Matt Nosanchuk, a former deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR); and Richard K. Lyons, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley.

"Antisemitism is incompatible with living our mission," Robert M. Groves said, describing Georgetown's efforts to respond to incidents and to provide campus religious leaders and centers to support interfaith dialogue. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez told the committee, "antisemitism has no place at CUNY," noting CUNY's size — "nearly 200,040 degree seeking students and employ[ing] 40,000 people" systemwide — and the system's steps to centralize investigations and build programs to counter hate.

The witnesses and committee members focused much of their discussion on OCR, the federal office charged with enforcing Title VI of the…