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In a letter sent Wednesday, May 8 to Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway, Democratic U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Donald Norcross said the university has a responsibility to ensure the safety and inclusion of all faculty and students on campus "after the administration appeased the demands of violent and hateful agitators."
The lawmakers also demanded answers about whether the administration consulted with Jewish students about the negotiations with pro-Palestine protesters and what steps the university is taking to include the Jewish community in decisions on campus. The congressmen requested answers by Thursday, May 16.
Daily Voice reached out to Rutgers University for comment.
The letter comes days after pro-Palestinian groups set up a four-day encampment, disrupting exams for about 1,000 students on Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus as reported by Daily Voice last week.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican congresswoman from North Carolina, has asked Holloway to testify before the House Education and the Workforce Committee on May 23 about a deal made with pro-Palestine protesters, as reported by Daily Voice.
“Members of Rutgers’ Jewish community have made urgent requests of the administration, as far back as December, pleading with them to take several reasonable steps that would ensure their safety and welcomeness on campus," Gottheimer and Norcross wrote. "As far as we can tell, these requests have been largely ignored."
"SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) broke every rule in the book and got rewarded with amnesty," the congressmen said, quoting a Jewish faculty member.
The congressmen's letter can be found attached.
Since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded a 388% increase in incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and assault over the same period last year. In 2023, ADL recorded 8,873 antisemitic incidents across the United States, a 140% increase from the 3,698 incidents recorded in 2022. That's the highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979.
The pro-Palestine protesters voluntarily left Thursday, May 2 after they said Rutgers agreed to eight of their 10 demands, according to the protesters.
The protesters also removed more than 60 tents pitched on Voorhees Mall on Rutgers' College Avenue campus,
Two demands were not agreed to by the university: Rutgers said divesting from Israeli business interests and its partnership with Tel Aviv University are things not in the President’s control, but would be reviewed.
Dory Devlin, assistant vice president for news and media relations at Rutgers, previously said Holloway would attend the May 23 congressional hearing and "discuss with committee members how Rutgers has worked to combat antisemitism, advance our educational mission, and handle protests on campus while prioritizing the safety of our students and community members."
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, there have been numerous protests on campuses of colleges nationwide.
At Princeton University, 13 protesters were arrested last week, as reported by Daily Voice.
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