University Officials Pressed Over Alleged Antisemitism

Four university officials faced questioning on Tuesday over allegations of antisemitism and the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion on their campuses.

The hearing titled, “Training Activists, Not Physicians: The impact of DEI on Medical Schools,” probed into alleged antisemitism found on the campuses stretching back to 2023, according to the Committee of Education and Workforce.

Interim Dean for University of Illinois College of Medicine (UICOM), Enrico Benedetti, testified over a letter addressing allegations of antisemitism found following the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, per the Chicago Tribune.

In an investigation brought by the Committee on Education and Workforce they allegedly found repeated removal of posters to raise awareness of hostages from the Hamas attacks, hateful messages posted by students in Slack, and failure to address antisemitism under the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, according to a letter.

“Last August, the Education and Workforce Committee opened investigations into the three medical schools before us today. We had received repeated complaints of severe antisemitism from students and faculty on these campuses, and we wanted to understand what was causing it,” according to a Tuesday Committee on Education and Workforce press release.

The Committee also launched investigations into the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of California Los Angeles Geffen School of Medicine (UCLA), according to a 2025 press release from the committee.

Roger Mitchell, President of the National Medical Association also took questions from the committee, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“These classes are filled with propaganda. They do not prepare medical students to become qualified, skilled physicians. They are focused on topics that have nothing to do with medical science- because they seek to make medical students not into competent doctors, but into far-left activists,” the Tuesday press release said.

“It soon became clear that the pervasive antisemitism we were investigating was the result of a deeper problem. It was a result of the activist infrastructure that these medical schools themselves had constructed,” Committee Chairman Tim Walberg said in the recent release.

Benedetti said the university has been working to address antisemitism since receiving the letter from the committee. He said the university has been holding students accountable for hate speech, changing the school’s leadership structure, and discontinuing an internal communication channel that was a forum of inappropriate and offensive commentary, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The dean added his university has been curating an environment where “all students, including Jewish students, feel safe, respected and ready to learn,” according to the outlet.

The committee asked Benedetti if the university complied with President Donald Trump’s orders to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programming to which he said, “we did everything we could,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Benedetti said that race was not a factor when admitting students and staff, the outlet reported.

“I’m pleased to report that Jewish students and faculty, in particular, have told me as recently as last week that they feel safe and supported under my leadership,” Benedetti said, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Department of Justice previously sued Harvard University in March for antisemitism on their campus. The DOJ found that the university had violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing antisemitic mobs to harass, assault, and intimidate Jewish community members, according to a March press release.

The Office for Civil Rights also opened two investigations into Harvard in March after allegations that they were still discriminating against students. One investigation looked into if the university was still using illegal-race based preferences in admissions and the other was against the ongoing antisemitic harassment, according to another March release.