Congressional committee investigates actions of UCLA leaders amid campus turmoil – Orange County Register

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block is now the focus of the chairman of a congressional committee who questions whether he and his administration have done enough to protect Jewish students at the Westwood campus, amid tensions surrounding a now dissolved pro-Palestinian encampment.

On Tuesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chairwoman of the House Education and Personnel Committee, sent a letter to UC leaders requesting all documents, communications and security videos related to anti-Semitic incidents alleged on campus.

“I am horrified by UCLA’s negligent and incomprehensible response to anti-Semitic violence and exclusion on its campus,” Foxx wrote in the letter. “UCLA leaders allowed their campus to become a pervasive hostile environment for Jewish students, standing idly by while students, faculty, and their affiliates were assaulted and harassed. »

The criticism leveled at Block amid the unrest that erupted on campus in early May is not new. Block is also under fire from Republican congressmen for what they see as the harm caused by the encampment to Jewish students, and he is scheduled to testify at a Foxx committee hearing on May 23.

These criticisms were amplified after the April 30 clashes on the campus’s Royce Quad. It was then that, during a nighttime assault, pro-Israeli counter-protesters stormed the pro-Palestinian encampment, triggering sporadic violence throughout the night. Law enforcement eventually responded, but their delayed response angered students all the way to the governor’s office.

During the attack on the camp, more than 150 protesters were assaulted with pepper spray and bear mace and at least 25 protesters were transported to emergency rooms, according to a statement from responding volunteer medics.

The day after the attack, Block released a statement expressing his “sincere sympathy to those who were injured last night, and to all those who have been injured or feared for their safety in recent days.”

He promised that the university would conduct a thorough investigation into both its own security procedures and the attack itself, which “could lead to arrests, expulsions and firings.”

But the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said it was appalled by the events that took place and that “the heinous actions of a few counter-protesters last night represent neither the Jewish community nor our values.”

The organization cited the lack of leadership from the chancellor and the UCLA administration, which enabled the “chaos we witnessed last night,” and called on the chancellor and the university to immediately shut down the camp and to meet with leaders of the Jewish community to discuss it. measures the school will take to ensure the safety of everyone on campus.

The organization said the administration allowed the creation of an environment that put students at risk for months, including allowing illegal encampments “in violation of its own laws” and “has been consistently slow to respond when law enforcement is desperately needed.”

Multiple investigations were opened into UCLA’s response and into the police who, a day later, massively emptied the encampment and arrested more than 200 demonstrators.

Block said it was necessary to clean up the encampment because it created an unsafe environment and interfered with the university’s ability to educate students.

“Ultimately, encampment on Royce Quad was both illegal and a violation of policy,” he said in a May 2 statement. “This has led to unsafe conditions on our campus and harmed our ability to carry out our mission. This had to end. »

All of this led to Foxx’s letter this week, at a time when for months congressional leaders have called on several university presidents to testify on issues related to anti-Semitism on campuses in the wake of the attack Hamas against Israelis on October 7.

About 1,200 people were killed when Hamas launched its surprise attack on October 7, when thousands of militants ransacked military bases in southern Israel and sleepy communities marking a Jewish holiday. Another 250 people were taken captive to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. The ensuing war, sparked by the assault, killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.

But in essence, university officials, including Block, faced criticism from both sides over tensions on campus related to the war.

On one hand, pro-Israel counterprotesters say campus officials are not doing enough to protect their safety and against speech and actions that they say cross the line into anti-Semitic hatred. On the other hand, Block faces intense criticism over campus security, the university’s cleanup of the encampment, as well as the protesters’ initial demands — including divestment from entities that do business with Israel.

The UCLA Academic Senate first considered a vote of no confidence in Block during an emergency meeting on May 10, but did not reach a decision and continued the motion until Thursday.

More than two-thirds of University Senate members approved the motion to proceed with a vote of no confidence, but the results of the vote of no confidence itself were not available at the time of publication.

If passed, the vote would have no legal power to force action, and Block announced last year his intention to step down this summer. Nonetheless, it would mark a dark moment for his career by expressing the faculty’s belief that his failure in leadership was serious enough to merit his dismissal.

Block had long planned to step down as chancellor in July.