The co-chairs of the US Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism called for a full Senate education committee hearing on rising antisemitism on college campuses, in a letter on Tuesday.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders.
“As co-chairs of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, we are deeply disturbed by the increase in antisemitic incidents on college and university campuses across the United States following Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attack on Israel,” Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankord (R-OK) wrote in their letter.
“Therefore, as Congress begins a new session, we strongly urge the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to take immediate action to keep Jewish students safe, including by holding a full committee hearing on campus antisemitism, so that we can better understand the scale and scope of this scourge, and take action to counter it,” the letter reads.
Letter cites study on frequency of antisemitic incidents on campus
The letter cited a study that said that 73% of Jewish college students surveyed experienced or witnessed antisemitic incidents on their campuses since the start of the academic school year. The percentage of students comfortable sharing their Jewish identity on campuses declined after October 7, the study said.
“We are profoundly concerned that far too many Jewish students do not feel safe on college and university campuses,” the letter continues. “Nevertheless, the US Department of Education has continued to delay the issuance of a proposed rule governing the application of Title VI in cases involving antisemitic harassment and discrimination.”
In August, Rosen and Lankford co-led a bipartisan, bicameral letter calling on the Department of Education to take steps to counter antisemitism on college and university campuses, according to a statement from Rosen’s office.
The Post has reached out to Sanders’ office for comment.