University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons on Tuesday forcefully defended his university against accusations that it has tolerated antisemitism as Republicans on a congressional education committee grilled him and two other university leaders. All three top administrators pushed back on assertions that they have not done enough to stop anti-Jewish hatred.

Lyons, whose campus is under multiple Trump administration investigations over accusations that it has violated the civil rights of Jewish students and faculty, appeared alongside leaders of the City University of New York and Georgetown University. At times tense, the hearing was the latest in a string of high-profile clashes between universities and the GOP over the campus climate for Jewish students amid a surge of activism and hate incidents after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in Israel that precipitated the war in Gaza.

In a particularly pointed exchange, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., asked Lyons whether Jewish students feel safe at UC Berkeley.

"Most Jewish students feel safe on our campus," Lyons said. She pressed further, asking him to why at least some did not feel safe, accusing him of "avoiding the question."

Lyons said antisemitism was not unique to higher education.

"Public universities are reflections of society, and I believe that the antisemitism in society is present on our campus," he said.

She then asked whether he believed "actions that you or your staff or faculty members take have influence on that."

"Yes," Lyons responded. "I would agree," he said.

Republican members of the House Education & Workforce Committee focused largely on faculty members accused of antisemitism, demanding to know how they were investigated and disciplined or why they weren't fired. They also accused leaders of not being transparent about universities' foreign funding.

It was the ninth hearing of its kind since explosive testimony in December 2023 contributed to the resignations of the Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania presidents after they declined to say that calls for the genocide of Jews violated school policies.

Democrats, a committee minority that includes California Reps. Mark Takano of Riverside and Mark DeSaulnier of Concord, criticized the hearing. They accused Republicans of using antisemitism to advance political goals to punish liberal universities while ignoring campus complaints of rising anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents.

"This is yet another hearing to demonize Muslims and their religion, to demonize Palestinians ... students, activists and faculty who are determined to stand up against human rights violations," Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., said.

They also lashed out against Trump administration actions that have led to significant cutbacks to the Office for Civil Rights within the Education Department, which is responsible for investigating discrimination on campus.

In opening remarks, Lyons stressed the importance of free speech at a campus where the movement was born.

"As a public institution, Berkeley has a solemn obligation to protect the quintessential American value of free speech," Lyons said. "This obligation does not prevent us, let me repeat, does not prevent us from confronting harassment and discrimination in all its forms, including antisemitism."

Lyons, a longtime Berkeley faculty member and administrator before his promotion to chancellor a year ago, faced repeated questions over an endowed program and chair in Palestinian and Arab studies launched in September. Led by history professor Ussama Makdisi, it was funded by $3.25 million in anonymous donations.

President Trump and Republicans have accused Berkeley of not following U.S. law that requires educational institutions to annually disclose gifts valued at $250,000 or more. The campus has responded that it abides by legal requirements.

During an exchange, Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., pressed Lyons to disclose any foreign funding to Berkeley.

Lyons refused.

"You would commit to full transparency of foreign spending on your campus?" Baumgartner asked.

"As a public university, I am not ready to commit to that on the fly. There are different donors to the university who request anonymity.... I'd be very, very happy to be very transparent about exactly what is our process for vetting those things," he said. "We say no to a lot of foreign money."

When asked to give an example of foreign money that was refused, Lyons declined.

Multiple Republicans also grilled the chancellor about Makdisi, largely singling out a post on X the professor made on Feb. 5, 2024.

It said, "I could have been one of those who broke through the siege on October 7." The post linked to an article written by another author at Mondoweiss, a pro-Palestinian news website, that had a headline with the same words.

Lyons declined to condemn Makdisi. The professor is a "fine scholar. He was awarded this position by his colleagues," the chancellor said, referring to the endowed chair position.

In another part of the hearing, McClain, the Michigan congresswoman, sat in front of an enlarged, printed image of the tweet. She asked Lyons, "What did he mean by that?" referring to Makdisi.

"I believe it was a celebration of the terrorist attack on October 7," Lyons said.

Lyons also faced questions about UAW 4811, the 48,000-member UC-wide academic workers union that last year called for a strike in support of pro-Palestinian encampments and divestment from Israel.

The chancellor, who in his role does not oversee labor negotiations with the union, said he opposed its position. The UC Office of the President, which is based in Oakland and oversees matters related to all campuses, handles labor relations.

"It is the stated policy of the University of California that we do not boycott countries. We have specific rules for when divestment can be considered, and we're very systematic about how we apply those rules," Lyons said. The University of California has said it opposes the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

Ahead of the hearing, leading Jewish faculty voiced support for Lyons in a letter to the committee.

Signed by 82 professors, the letter said that despite "moments of unease and, at times, physical threats" against Jewish community members in recent years, the Bay Area campus was overall safe for Jews.

"As Jewish faculty who frequently engage with campus leadership and remain vigilant about the well-being of the Jewish campus community, we reject the claim that UC Berkeley is an antisemitic environment," the letter said. "We write to affirm that we feel secure on campus and support the administration's efforts to balance safety with respect for free speech."

It was organized by Ken Goldberg, professor of industrial engineering and operations research, and Ethan Katz, associate professor in the history department and the Center for Jewish Studies. The signatories included some of the campus' best-known scholars, among them Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law and a 1st Amendment expert.

Separately, a UC union and faculty association released a joint statement Monday condemning the hearing as an attempt by Trump administration allies to "limit free speech."

"The hearing is the most recent in a series of attacks that are part of the MAGA agenda to defund higher education and limit free speech on campuses across the country," said the statement from University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) and the Council of University of California Faculty Assns. UC-AFT represents 6,800 lecturers, part-time faculty and librarians across the university system.

"The Trump administration is cynically targeting higher education at every level. The freedom of both faculty and students to teach, write, and research is a cornerstone of the U.S. university system and must be defended," the statement said.

Pro-Palestinian faculty from the universities that are subject to the hearing also released a statement Tuesday.

"These congressional hearings are not about actually addressing antisemitism in higher education. Rather, their agenda is to bring the higher education sector to heel," said the statement signed by faculty and staff for justice in Palestine groups at CUNY, Georgetown and UC Berkeley as well as the Georgetown American Assn. of University Professors and the Jewish Voice for Peace Academic Council.

They called on university leaders to "oppose the weaponization of antisemitism through the equation of Jewish safety with the silencing and exclusion of those who speak up for Palestinian freedom and an end to genocide."

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