(TheProudRepublic.com) – After a spring semester marked by intense anti-Israel protests on numerous college campuses, top House Republicans slammed universities by introducing a bill aimed at holding administrators more accountable.
The “No Tax Dollars for College Encampments Act” was introduced on July 1 by Indiana Representative Jim Banks and New York Representative Elise Stefanik. This bill would require universities to publicly disclose their policies for handling protests in order to maintain 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.
She added, “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.”
According to a release from Banks’ office, the bill aims to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 and mandate that universities follow their own procedures and reporting requirements when dealing with civil unrest.
If passed, universities would need to submit annual reports to the Department of Education detailing incidents of civil unrest and the responses taken by campus leaders.
Additionally, the Republicans behind the bill said its goal is to boost transparency, improve campus safety, and ensure accountability.
“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.
He firmly continued, “My legislation holds these woke universities accountable and ensures they enforce protest rules fairly and equally, not only when it fits their political agenda.”
Contrary, critics of the bill argued that it targets pro-Palestine students. Michael Arria, writing for Mondoweiss, claimed that the legislation “would strip U.S. schools of their federal accreditation if they fail to squash protests in support of Gaza,” calling it a “wacky” Republican move.
Additionally, Parents Defending Education Action claimed, “In a time where kids are punished for so-called misgendering, it’s despicable that pro-terrorist protests were allowed on college campuses.”
“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.
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