Following pro-Palestinian demonstrations and comments by some faculty at the University of California, Berkeley campus after the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023, the school is one of several universities that faces criticism for its handling of alleged pervasive antisemitism on campus. On Tuesday, Chancellor Rich Lyons came to Congress to address the issue.
Lyons and the heads of the City University of New York and Georgetown University testified at a congressional hearing before the House Committee on Education and Workforce that chair Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, said was to focus on the “underlying factors instigating antisemitic upheaval and hatred on campus.”
The hearing, interrupted briefly a handful of times by pro-Palestinian protesters, comes as President Donald Trump’s administration looks to crack down on antisemitism at colleges across the country.
Lyons told the committee that though UC Berkeley had “more work to do” and wasn’t “immune from the rise in antisemitism,” the university “unequivocally condemns” antisemitism.
“We continue to work with our Jewish community to respond to the ignorance at the heart of this deplorable hatred,” said Lyons.
Lyons, a year into his role as chancellor, said some of those efforts include antisemitism training for students, a new antisemitism education initiative, partnering with Jewish groups and increasing campus security.
At the same time, Lyons noted the importance of free speech.
“People say, ‘Well, just drive down the middle of the road.’ This is a very complex road to drive down,” he said. “We are constantly making judgments around how we keep people safe and supported and also how do we make sure that we are protecting free speech and the marketplace for ideas.”
Since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent bombing of Gaza by Israel, the university has seen a number of incidents or faculty remarks, including the disruption of a pro-Israel speaker by breaking down doors in February 2024, that had resulted in some criticism for failing to protect Jewish community members.
Lyons said a repost made by history professor Ussama Makdisi that said, “I could have been one of those people who broke through on the siege on Oct. 7” seemed “to be a celebration of the terrorist attack on Oct. 7.”
Lyons, however, said he wanted to “separate the phrase from the person.” Lyons went into the hearing with the backing of more than 80 Jewish staff members, who in a letter pushed back against claims made about antisemitism at the university.
“While we don’t always agree with the administration’s decisions, it is abundantly clear to us that, overall, the administration has a long-standing commitment to combat antisemitism,” the letter reads in part.
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