House Republicans grill CUNY leader over campus antisemitism, pro-Palestinian advocacy

Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News on Jul 15, 2025

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A Republican-led congressional committee grilled City University of New York Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez on Tuesday over rising antisemitism on its campuses, leveling their most pointed attacks against faculty members.

The CUNY leader — joined by the heads of Georgetown and UC Berkeley — struck a conciliatory tone with the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, as he conceded the city’s sprawling university system was not immune to increased hate toward Jewish people during Israel’s deadly war in Gaza. Still, he repeatedly emphasized antisemitism has no place at CUNY.

“Although our response has not always been perfect, our commitment to this important work has never wavered,” Matos Rodríguez said.

The hearing, which lasted more than three hours, was the latest in a string of episodes criticized by Congressional Democrats, who have accused the committee of using the guise of combating antisemitism to attack higher education.

While prior convenings purported to be about college presidents’ handling of antisemitic incidents, the latest hearing was billed as focused on sources of Jew hatred on university campuses. According to Tim Walberg, R-Mich., chair of the committee, those include include faculty groups, foreign funding, and diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

In one heated exchange, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-New York, questioned Matos Rodríguez over CUNY CLEAR, a legal clinic representing Columbia graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. Its founder, a professor at CUNY’s law school, is a public face of Khalil’s legal defense team and recently secured his release from ICE detention on bail.

“Is this acceptable that the legal defense fund for Mahmoud Khalil is the head of CUNY CLEAR? That’s acceptable under your watch,” Stefanik said.

Matos Rodríguez did not defend Khalil, who did not attend CUNY, or his representation at CLEAR — but said those decisions are made by clinics and on individual campuses. The congresswoman, who is expected to run for New York governor, responded, “It goes up to you. You are the chancellor.”

“I take responsibility for any behavior of our faculty,” Matos Rodríguez said.

The chancellor also attempted to distance himself from the hiring of a chief diversity officer who worked at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, and CUNY’s faculty union, which earlier this year narrowly passed a resolution in support of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. The Professional Staff Congress later voted to rescind the measure, but backlash persisted.

“The PSC does not speak for the City University of New York. We’ve been clear on our commitment against antisemitism and against BDS,” he said.

In a statement after the hearing, union president James Davis accused GOP lawmakers of using anxiety about rising antisemitism to attack higher education. Davis said PSC members and leaders have differing perspectives on Israel and Palestine, and the union does not have a position on BDS.

“The MAGA Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee got their facts wrong today in their attempt to smear CUNY and our union as antisemitic,” Davis said, adding that he rejected the “false premise” underlying the hearing that any pro-Palestinian campus activism is antisemitic.

Davis also lent his support to the legal clinic representing Khalil.

“All of CUNY should be proud that faculty working at our university are a part of the legal team defending our constitutional rights and the rights of Mahmoud Khalil, who was abducted for his political speech,” he added.

CUNY has been a hub of pro-Palestinian activism since before Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, though the public university system has faced heightened scrutiny in its aftermath, including a state-ordered probe on campus antisemitism.

Matos Rodríguez said CUNY has “embraced the recommendations” that came from the report, including a “constructive dialogue” school initiative and a central team responding to discrimination and harassment. Across its campuses, CUNY logged 68 antisemitism complaints in 2024 and 16 so far in 2025, the chancellor testified.

Student protesters and their allies, who pitched a tent demonstration on CUNY’s Harlem campus, City College, in spring 2024, have accused the university system of conflating antisemitism with pro-Palestinian advocacy.

Rep. John Mannion, D-New York, called on House Republicans to hold those in their own party accountable and approach the issue of campus antisemitism more thoughtfully. In particular, he pointed to committee members who supported the Trump administration’s gutting of the U.S. Education Department’s civil rights office, which previously conducted anti-Jewish discrimination investigations.

“The majority of this committee are set on repeatedly singling out higher education, and attacking university presidents and labor unions that represent their faculty,” Mannion said, “while refusing to pursue serious, comprehensive solutions.”

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