Congressman Jim Banks is an alum and he sent a letter to the school president about this. After the congressional hearing this week, lots of people in higher education have good cause to be worried.
The College Fix reports:
Indiana University faculty share ‘serious concern’ about antisemitism probe, threatened cutsProfessors at Indiana University Bloomington signed an open letter opposing a lawmaker’s demand that the university address allegations of antisemitism on campus.The letter reads, “we write to express our serious concern about the recent letter that has been sent by Republican Rep. James Banks to IU President Pamela Whitten.”Four professors authored the letter: political scientist Jeffrey Isaac, Professor of English and International Studies Purnima Bose, Professor of History Alex Lichtenstein, and Professor of Germanic Studies Benjamin Robinson.The College Fix emailed Professors Isaac, Bose, Lichtenstein, and Robinson Dec. 4 to ask whether campus antisemitism has been a problem since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and if so, how it ought to be addressed. No response has been received.“In the letter, Rep. Banks [pictured] raises questions about whether IU has been sufficiently responsive to antisemitism on campus, and indicates that failure to satisfy his concerns could lead to Congressional investigation and possible funding cuts,” it states.“We are alarmed by the threatening tone of the letter, the way in which it injects ideology into the proper governance of the university, and the way it conflates academic leadership with the policing of controversial ideas,” it states. “In the present environment, his letter can only serve to further divide our students, by inhibiting the free expression of ideas—including controversial political ideas—at a time when the exchange of words rather than bullets is sorely needed.”The letter also includes an Editors’ Note stating that the names of the signatories were removed “by request” on Dec. 1.In his own letter to President Whitten, Representative Jim Banks had expressed concern over “the recent resignations of multiple Indiana University (IU) Bloomington students from the Indiana University Student Government (IUSG) over IUSG’s failure to combat campus antisemitism.”“As an IU graduate, allegations of antisemitism at my alma mater are personal and extremely concerning to me,” Banks continued.
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