During a House Education Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) asked Interim President of Georgetown University Robert Groves about fake eviction notices posted on Jewish students' dorm rooms.
00:00Thanks, gentlemen. This time has expired. I now recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson.
00:05Thank you, Chairman. Dr. Groves, well, first of all, once again, thank you for the care at Georgetown University Hospital that I received with some treatments.
00:16Just very impressed there. Dr. Groves, recently something did come to my attention, and I want to see if you're aware of it.
00:26Are you aware that in 2024, flyers designed to mimic eviction notices were placed on Jewish students' dormitory doors on your campus, falsely accusing Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing?
00:40I am aware of that. This was during move-in weekend for our new students.
00:48We acted on that immediately, removed the eviction notices with an assembly of staff around, identified the perpetrator of this, and discipline was done for him.
01:05Very good. So obviously this violates the Georgetown policy.
01:10This was abhorrent. And for the students who saw this and were hurt by this, we apologize as a university.
01:21This is intolerable at Georgetown. We cannot have this sort of behavior.
01:25Well, thank you for taking that action, and thank you for taking the disciplinary action. Incredibly important.
01:32Dr. Groves, does Georgetown employ any anti-Semitic faculty members or fellows?
01:37We have faculty that have the range of opinions on every issue facing humankind.
01:46We police carefully the behavior of our faculty in the classroom and their research activities.
01:57They are free, as all residents of the United States, to have speech in the public domain.
02:06Yeah, I wanted to point out one in particular, one to start with, anyone.
02:13Imad Shaheen, a senior fellow at Georgetown Center for Muslim Christian Understanding,
02:19which I find interesting, Muslim Christian Understanding, and he applauded the terrorist attack on October 7th,
02:26stating it would, quote, bring about this change that we long for.
02:31Or does Shaheen's description of the October 7th terrorist attack, the, quote, change that we long for, end quote,
02:41violate your university's harassment and discrimination policies?
02:46That was an important tweet that was sent out.
02:51So, that is not the Georgetown policy.
02:55What we do in cases like that is to assure that the student welfare and the welfare of the GU community
03:04is protected through events like that.
03:07So, the protection, did that include disciplinary action or an investigation into Imad Shaheen for his statement?
03:14We have, I can't cite that particular case, but I can assure you, Congressman, that we have dismissed faculty
03:23for anti-Semitic behavior on social media in the classroom and also dismissed staff for the same behavior.
03:30Well, there's another one.
03:31In a social media post, the associate director of the Bridge Initiative of Georgetown,
03:36Mubashra Tazadamal, reposted a statement that said,
03:42Israel has been recreating Auschwitz in Gaza for two years.
03:47Do you believe it's appropriate for a Georgetown-affiliated scholar to publicly endorse a statement
03:51comparing Israel's actions in Gaza to the, I mean, the evil of Auschwitz?
04:00No, I reject those kinds of statements.
04:03That's not the policy of Georgetown, and I want everyone to know that to the extent that hurt Jewish students,
04:11Jewish faculty, Jewish staff at Georgetown, I apologize for that,
04:15but that's behavior covered under the First Amendment on social media that we don't intervene on.
04:22What we do intervene on quickly is behavior that affects our students in the classroom
04:28and research-related activities that involve students.
04:31So this individual didn't face any disciplinary action or consequences?
04:38Not to my knowledge.
04:40Yeah, in a director position, no less.
04:42Dr. Rose, what message do you think the university's inaction sends to Jewish students on your campus?
04:48You know, we have a variety of ways to stay in touch with our Jewish community.
04:55Our Jewish Life office is a wonderful resource.
05:00We meet with our rabbi.
05:02We meet with Jewish students.
05:03We meet with Jewish faculty to keep a sense of the pulse of the culture.
05:10Dr. Rose, I appreciate it.
05:11Let me, my time is almost gone.
05:13If I may, just one more question.
05:15When hiring faculty, does Georgetown currently have a vetting process that includes screening for anti-Semitic content
05:21and a candidate's public record?
05:24Not at this time, Congressman.
05:28Thank you, gentlemen.
05:29The time has expired.
05:30And I recognize the gentlelady from North Carolina.
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