House probes MIT over antisemitism on campus

A powerful Congressional committee accused Massachusetts Institute of Technology Friday of a systematic “failure to protect Jewish students” — which includes an antisemitic incident on the anniversary of Kristallnacht

The Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce said it has “grave concerns” about how the Ivy League college has dealt with antisemitism since the October 7 massacre of hundreds of Israelis by Hamas terrorists and demanded it hand over evidence of its conduct.

It demanded that MIT president Sally Kornbluth and the chair of the MIT Corporation, Mark Gorenberg, turn over a host of documents by March 22, or face a subpoena.

The move comes after it subpoenaed records from Harvard University on its response to antisemitism as part of a probe opened after disastrous testimony on antisemitism from Kornbluth, Harvard’s then-president Claudine Gay and the University of Pennsylvania’s then-president Elizabeth Magill.

All three of the presidents failed to condemn calls for the death of Jews at their schools, saying that it depended on the “context.” Magill resigned soon after her appearance, and Gay resigned in January, amid mounting allegations of plagiarism leaving MIT’s Kornbluth the sole survivor.

The 12-page letter, from committee chair Rep. Virginia Foxx, warned MIT that 73 percent of Jewish students said they “did not feel comfortable publicly being Jewish, Israeli or supportive of Israel on MIT’s campus.”

On November 9, 2023, the anniversary of Kristallnacht, CAA blocked students from attending classes. MIT’s response was to warn Jewish students to avoid engaging the protestors for their own “physical safety and wellbeing,” the letter said.

A campus group, Coalition Against Apartheid “has disrupted classes, harassed Jewish students, promoted violence, and violated other MIT rules in the course of conducting anti-Israel demonstrations,” it also revealed.

And it said that 59 percent of Jewish students said they had experienced some form of hate since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist strikes in Israel.

When Jewish faculty members tried to take action, they weren’t taken seriously, the letter said. An advisory group of Jewish faculty members set up to combat antisemitism disbanded following the school’s announcement of a lecture series, featuring an antisemitic speaker.

“MIT invited Dalia Mogahed, who has endorsed Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel to lecture on Islamophobia,” the letter said.

Foxx takes aim at MIT’s leaders for praising Kornbluth after her disastrous appearance before Congress. “Despite widespread public criticism of Dr. Kornbluth’s testimony, the MIT Corporation issued an endorsement, writing that Dr. Kornbluth ‘has done excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophia and other forms of hate…’”

These include police records and disciplinary memos as well communications related to the funding of anti-Israel groups on campus, according to a March 8 letter from North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx, who chairs the committee.

The Post has reached out to MIT for comment.