Bill would require transparency from universities about protest policies
In the wake of a tumultuous spring semester during which anti-Israel campus protests overtook dozens of universities and resulted in thousands of arrests and police interventions, top House Republicans have introduced a bill that seeks to better hold administrators accountable for such mayhem.
The “No Tax Dollars for College Encampments Act” was introduced July 1 by Republicans Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana and Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York. The legislation would require universities to publicly disclose their protest response policies to receive federal accreditation.
“I am committed to ridding universities of the antisemitic rot corrupting our students and making campuses dangerous and unwelcoming to our Jewish communities,” Stefanik said in a news release.
“This legislation would prevent the disgraceful mob riots we saw overtake campuses across the country including Columbia University and make sure school leaders are enforcing policies against hostile campus takeovers,” the congresswoman stated.
The bill, which seeks to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, would also require universities “to adhere to their own procedures and reporting requirements when responding to civil unrest,” according to a news release from Bank’s office.
If approved, universities would be required to submit annual reports to the Department of Education reporting incidents of civil unrest and the measures campus leaders took in response.
The bill’s purpose is to enhance transparency, improve safety, and ensure accountability on campuses, the Republicans said in their news releases.
Six other House Republicans and multiple policy organizations, including Heritage Action and Parents Defending Education Action, have backed the bill.
“[W]e cannot sit idle while these college administrations allow these illegal encampments to continue,” Parents Defending Education Action states in a news release.
“Last school year, makeshift encampments were allowed to flourish on campuses across the country, disrupting classes and intimidating Jewish students. This is unacceptable,” Banks said.
“My legislation holds these woke universities accountable and ensures they enforce protest rules fairly and equally, not only when it fits their political agenda,” he said.
Banks’ and Stefanik’s offices did not respond to The College Fix’s requests for comment.
Critics of the bill argue it is an effort to “punish pro-Palestine students.”
Michael Arria wrote in a piece for Mondoweiss that the legislation “would strip U.S. schools of their federal accreditation if they fail to squash protests in support of Gaza,” and called it a “wacky” Republican effort.
Ohio senator and Trump’s vice presidential running mate, J.D. Vance, introduced similar legislation on May 9, titled the Encampments or Endowments Act.
The bill sought to render universities ineligible for financial assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965 for five years if they failed to remove encampments from their campuses within a week, according to his website.
“It’s time to end this national embarrassment,” Vance stated at the time in a news release. “We cannot allow people who hate our country to turn campuses into garbage dumps.”
Senate Democrats blocked Vance’s legislation.
“In a time where kids are punished for so-called misgendering, it’s despicable that pro-terrorist protests were allowed on college campuses,” Parents Defending Education Action told The College Fix via email.
“Free speech must be protected—but much of the behavior we saw at these encampments went far beyond acceptable speech and instead constituted harassment, discrimination, and threats,” the advocacy group added.
MORE: More than 3,100 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested in spring — but many charges dropped
IMAGE: Lev Radin / Shutterstock
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