Campus Reform: House committee investigates Sarah Lawrence College over alleged anti-Semitism

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce recently requested documents from Sarah Lawrence College (SLC) in New York over concerns about reports of anti-Semitism at the school.

The committee had previously asked for documents in March from SLC, but has updated its requests because of changing conditions and new reports, according to Jewish News Syndicate.

The committee’s letter to the school, which was written by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) on June 11, describes one SLC student who was reportedly “harassed and bullied throughout the 2022-2023 academic year.” The student allegedly received threats, including one message stating he “should have been killed in Israel.”

“He left Sarah Lawrence, in part because of the college’s ‘refusal to protect him,’” the letter states. “Multiple other students have also left Sarah Lawrence or considered doing so because of antisemitism on campus.”

“Meanwhile, last fall students reportedly targeted a Jewish professor at Sarah Lawrence because he is a ‘staunch advocate of Israel’s right to self-defense,’” the letter continued. “These students reportedly waged a boycott campaign and pressured others individually not to take the professor’s class.”

The legislators specifically note that the House committee is “concerned” that “administrators and faculty” at Sarah Lawrence College may have contributed to such a discriminatory environment.

The representatives also noted that support for anti-Israel rhetoric and anti-Jewish discrimination could violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The committee has requested documents connected to anti-Semitism investigations and complaints at the school, including documents relating to the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP); the committee gave SLC until June 25 to reply with the documents.

There have been significant pro-Palestine protests at the college following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks against Israel. 

For instance, in November, masked students took over a building on SLC’s campus while chanting “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” The students occupied the building as part of National SJP’s “Take a Building Challenge.”

In the fall semester, students at SLC also erected, and subsequently dismantled, an anti-Israel encampment at the school, accusing groups who invest in Israel of being “war profiteers” and demanding divestment from companies with financial ties to the Jewish state.

Following these demonstrations, the U.S. Department of Education launched a Title VI investigation into SLC over concerns of unchecked anti-Semitism.