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UC Berkeley Chancellor Defends Campus Antisemitism Response to House Committee

Lyons outlined security upgrades and training in response to federal civil rights investigations

Two weeks after the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October, 2023, hundreds of students gathered on UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza to call for a cease fire and end to the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons looks into the camera in a campus portrait.
Student and faculty protesters face off at UC Berkeley on Oct. 8, 2024. The university’s chancellor is set to go before a House Committee in Washington, DC on July 15 amid claims that antisemitism is “festering at schools.”
A walkout by UC Berkeley faculty, staff and students in support of Gaza and Lebanon was interrupted by counter protestors from Students Supporting Israel on Oct. 8, 2024.

Overview

  • Rich Lyons appeared before the House Education & Workforce Committee with CUNY and Georgetown leaders to address campus antisemitism and handling of pro-Palestinian protests.
  • Eighty-two Jewish UC Berkeley professors submitted a letter affirming the campus is safe and endorsing the administration’s balance of student security and free speech.
  • Since the February 2024 Zellerbach incident, Berkeley has spent over $10 million on enhanced security, mandatory antisemitism training and an Israel-Palestine dialogue fellowship.
  • The University Council–American Federation of Teachers and pro-Palestinian faculty groups criticized the hearing as a political tactic aimed at restricting academic freedom and cutting higher education funding.
  • Rep. Tim Walberg and other Republicans pressed universities to reveal foreign funding sources and warned that noncompliance with Title VI civil rights obligations could risk federal support.