Bill proposes funding cuts after anti-Semitic CUNY Law graduation speech
Congressional lawmakers are proposing the 'Stop Anti-Semitism on College Campuses Act' after a CUNY School of Law commencement speech that has been condemned as anti-Semitic.
The bill would cut federal funding for schools that 'authorize, facilitate, provide funding for, or otherwise support any event promoting Anti-Semitism on campus.'
Congressional lawmakers are proposing a bill that would cut funding to schools that permit anti-Semitism on campus.
The “Stop Anti-Semitism on College Campuses Act,” introduced on May 31 by Rep. Michael Lawler, comes in response to a CUNY School of Law commencement address that has been widely condemned as anti-Semitic.
Lawler, a freshman Republican representative from New York, tweeted on June 1 that the speech was “a diatribe of hatred and anti-Semitism at its worst.”
What we heard at CUNY was a diatribe of hatred and anti-Semitism at its worst. I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure passage of my bill, H.R. 3773, the Stop Anti-Semitism on College Campuses Act. pic.twitter.com/xE3UPJs6md
— Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) June 1, 2023
In the speech, student Fatima Mohammed, selected to speak by the graduating class, attacked “Israeli settler colonialism” and accused the country of “encouraging lynch mobs.”
She also slammed CUNY for cooperating with the “fascist NYPD” and military and for “training IDF soldiers.”
Mohammed noted that she hoped “the rage that fills this auditorium … [will] be the fuel for the fight against capitalism, racism, imperialism, and Zionism around the world.”
The speech also drew criticism from Democrats, with New York City Mayor Eric Adams saying at a Jewish Heritage Month reception, “I will tell you, if I was on that stage, when those comments were made, I would have stood up and denounced them immediately!”
New York Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres called the speech “Anti-Israel derangement syndrome at work” in a May 29 tweet.
Imagine being so crazed by hatred for Israel as a Jewish State that you make it the subject of your commencement speech at a law school graduation.
Anti-Israel derangement syndrome at work. pic.twitter.com/15iACGJUVn— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) May 29, 2023
[RELATED: Prof calls CUNY’s DEI programs a ‘farce’ as system faces anti-Semitism investigation]
Lawler’s bill, if passed, would “prohibit institutions of higher education that authorize Anti-Semitic events on campus from participating in the student loan and grant programs under title IV [of the Higher Education Act of 1965],” effectively eliminating their eligibility for federal funding.
The CUNY system has come under increasing scrutiny for anti-Semitism in recent years.
Campus Reform reported on last year’s law school commencement speech in which Nerdeen Kiswani discussed “Israel’s colonization and murder of the Palestinian people.”
Campus Reform also recently reported on a publication from Students and Faculty for Equality at the City University of New York entitled “How CUNY Became the Most Systemically Antisemitic U.S. University in Just Two Years.”
The best effort was made to contact Fatima Mohammed. CUNY School of Law and Rep. Lawler have been contacted for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
Follow Austin Browne on Twitter.
