University of California at Berkeley has two weeks to submit documents and communications pertaining to campus antisemitism as part of the the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s investigation which it announced in a letter on Tuesday
The committee is requesting a trove of documents pertaining to anti-Semitic incidents committed by both students, faculty and staff. The committee seeks to identify the university’s procedures for documenting and responding to complaints of antisemitism and discrimination.
Antisemitism at Berkeley is well documented
According to the letter, antisemitism at Berkeley and other University of California schools has been well-documented prior to October 7.
The letter criticizes university officials for its response to October 7 and condemns administrators for failing to protect Jewish students, faculty and staff. The committee also alleges that the university has failed to enforce its own policies.
The committee’s letter comes weeks after a violent protest broke out on campus at an event featuring an Israeli attorney.
“On February 26, 2024, an anti-Israel protest organized by the student group Bears for Palestine erupted into a violent riot in which anti-Israel activists assaulted Jewish students and shattered glass window, forcing the cancellation of an Israeli speaker’s lecture. 1 In recent weeks, anti- Israel students have occupied and blocked UC Berkeley’s landmark Sather Gate, a key entrance to the center of campus, and harassed Jewish passersby,” the letter said
“UC Berkeley’s failure to address this activity breaches a specific and longstanding university commitment to keep the gate unobstructed as part of a legal settlement and constitutes a selective dereliction of duty to enforce university rules against harassment.”
The committee accuses the university for failing to address this violence as an act of Jewish hate.
Earlier this month, the Committee invited a UC Berkeley graduate student to testify in its hearing on campus antisemitism.
Since January, the Committee launched similar investigations into Harvard and Columbia. The Committee remains embattled with Harvard administrators who failed to produce the required documents within the deadline, resulting in a subpoena.
The Post has reached out to UC Berkeley .