President Rob Manuel was called to testify before Congress on Wednesday to speak about antisemitism on DePaul’s campus. A day later, he sat down with student media to discuss the hearing and his plans to tackle antisemitism on campus. 

Manuel appeared before the House Committee on Education & Workforce on Wednesday, May 7, with California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) president Jeffrey Armstrong and Haverford College president Wendy Raymond.

Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI), said the hearing was to ensure Jewish student safety on college campuses, and to discuss legislation to combat “threats or harassment in violation of Title VI.”  

“I entered the conversation in good faith to talk about what DePaul was doing regarding specifically antisemitism,” Manuel said in an interview with student media on Thursday. “I believe we’re upholding our Vincentian mission to ensure that everybody can speak here and make sure that everybody is safe and welcome in our community.”

University steps 

Last November, two Jewish students were attacked on DePaul’s campus in what has been classified as a hate crime by the Chicago Police Department. The suspect is not a DePaul student and has been arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated battery with great bodily harm. 

Manuel took time in the opening of his testimony to apologize directly to Michael Kaminsky and Max Long, the victims of the attack. Kaminsky was at the hearing. 

“I am deeply sorry. I know there are areas where we must and will do better,” Manuel said in his testimony. “I also wish to speak directly to two of our students who were attacked last November. What happened to them was a hate crime. No one should ever be attacked because of who they are, and I am sorry for the pain that they are experiencing.”  

Manuel identified “concrete steps to ensure Jewish students and all students are safe on campus.”

In order to protect faculty, staff and students on campus, Manuel noted in an email sent on May 2 that the university has since implemented a new “Identity Verification Policy,” requiring students, faculty and staff to “temporarily remove masks or face coverings upon request from a Public Safety officer.”

Manuel said this policy creates a culture of accountability and a safe and welcoming environment for people on campus.  

“They’re connected. They’re not opposed to each other,” Manuel told student media Thursday, May 8. 

This is a clarification to the current identification policy, he said. If public safety deems the person jeopardizing or threatening someone’s safety, they would require to be identified by public safety.

“Public safety officers could look for an ID, make the ID, and then ultimately, if they’re not supposed to be there, ask them to leave or trespass them or bring in CPD if needed,” Manuel said in the interview. 

The university also has created a task force on antisemitism and has launched a Jewish alumni group, along with other efforts to “assist in our Jewish engagement on campus.”

In Manuel’s written testimony to Congress, he also announced the development of the Bias Education and Response Team (BERT), which will be fully active in the next academic year. 

BERT is said to act as a “responsive structure to addressing harm” and as an “educational resource committed to long-term cultural change.” 

BERT will include an online reporting form where students can report incidents of hate or bias. 

Pro-Palestinian voices

In response to the hearing, DePaul’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter hosted a press conference and rally outside the Student Center on Wednesday, May 7. Rep. Walberg said SJP is at “the very center” of “DePaul’s antisemitism problem.”

When asked if he thought this was an accurate representation of the group, Manuel said, “I look more at the specifics at DePaul, and so I want every group, every voice, every representative … to make sure they have the same rights and responsibilities as everybody else does.” 

Anti-Zionist Jewish student organizations, along with pro-Palestinian organizations, such as SJP, expressed their dissatisfaction with Manuel’s remarks Wednesday. 

Jared Menegat, a member of the Chicagoland Jewish Labor Bund, opened the rally by sharing the latest death tolls reported in Gaza and the continued devastation Palestinians continue to face. 

“The university president Rob Manuel did not testify in Congress to discuss any of this,” Menegat said. “This is no matter of Jewish safety or student safety.” 

In reference to SJP’s complaints, Manuel said in the Thursday interview that he did not speak specifically about Gaza in the hearing as the “hearing was on antisemitism on college campuses” and the “questions (he) was given were specific.”

Manuel has continued to face criticism from various pro-Palestinian groups on campus for the continued university sanctions on SJP and the Chicago Police Department raid that ended last spring’s protest encampment 17 days after it was set up on the Quad.

“I don’t believe we’re targeting Palestinian groups and free speech,” Manuel said in the interview. 

Manuel recognized the sense of community some may have felt during the encampment, but said “there are also students who were not supported or felt comfortable. There were students who were directly assaulted.” 

Despite the sanctions placed on the group, SJP and other student organizations have continued to hold rallies on public streets near campus, criticizing the university’s response. 

“I think it’s not appropriate to judge my actions as being anti-Palestinian,” Manuel said. “I am committed to the safety and the care of everybody here. I care about the death and the dying and the destruction.”

Student conduct and freedom of speech 

Students in Support of Israel at DePaul took to social media to express their own issues with Wednesday’s hearing. 

The group posted a clip of Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) asking Manuel specifics about the November attack, questioning, “was anyone else held accountable, other than Michael and his friend, that sustained a concussion and a broken wrist?” 

In response, the SSI Instagram caption reads, “More smug dismissiveness of violent targeting of Jewish students @depaulu from today’s hearing.”

University presidents at the hearing also were asked about their responses to students’ and faculty members’ social media content.

The DePaul student code of conduct gives the university the jurisdiction to start a “Student Conduct Process” when “the alleged policy violation occurred off campus (including in online communities) and involves a member of the campus community (student, faculty or staff).”

However, the student code of conduct does not have a specific policy a student would have to violate for that process to begin.  Additionally, the guiding principles of speech and expression state that the university affirms “the right of individuals to express their viewpoints, even at the risk of controversy.”

In the congressional hearing, David Cole, the Honorable George J. Mitchell, Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University, also mentioned that Title VI does not prohibit antisemitic speech.

“It prohibits only the discriminatory denial of equal access to education. An antisemitic slogan at a protest or online does not deny equal access to education any more than a sexist or a racist comment at a rally,” Cole said.

The DePaul University policy only defines prohibited harassment as “unwelcome conduct” that is enduring, pervasive or severe enough to create an academic environment that is intimidating, hostile or abusive. 

However, Manuel said the university will consider both the boundaries of free speech and whether something is antisemitic when students and faculty members share content on the internet.

“That’s exactly why we are bringing in a special advisor to work on the engagement of that question on campus,” Manuel said. “It will get into the legal questions of First Amendment rights and the university obligation to make sure you each have the ability to enjoy your education.”

The university has hired attorney Scott Levin, former regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, as Special Advisor to the President on Jewish Engagement. His duties will include reviewing policies for effectiveness and addressing hate speech.

“He will not be defining it for us, but leading the conversations that we can have (a) dialogue about what’s important and specific to do,” Manuel said in Thursday’s interview. 

The committee allows members and witnesses to share more written testimony and statements 14 days after the hearing. However, Manuel said he will not be filing any more of his own.

“We would answer questions that come from the committee members,” he said. “(But) I don’t have plans to enter more testimony than I already have.” 

After his testimony and hearing subsequent opinions from DePaul student groups, Manuel said his focus is the student body and upholding Vincentian values. 

“I am committed to the safety and care of everybody here,” Manuel said. “Everybody has to find ways to do better, and we’re committed to making sure that engagement happens here.” 

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated that SJP has continued to hold rallies on campus. It has been updated to reflect that it holds rallies on streets near campus, not on campus property.