House Republicans have escalated their investigation into alleged antisemitism at California’s top medical schools, demanding reams of internal records from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, sent letters to the two institutions on Monday, giving them two weeks to turn over “all documents and communications” dating back to September 1, 2021. The requests specifically target records relating to antisemitic incidents and how administrators, faculty, and staff responded.
“The Committee has become aware that Jewish students, faculty, and patients have been experiencing hostility and fear at the university, and it has not been demonstrated that the university has meaningfully responded to address and mitigate this problem,” Walberg wrote.
In his letter to UCSF, Walberg cited testimony from Jewish students who said they concealed their religious identity while attending the school. The letter also pointed to disturbing incidents, including a student allegedly telling a peer that “Jews control the banks,” and a lab technician reportedly telling a Jewish student that “Israel deserved what happened on October 7.”
Walberg also sent a similar demand letter to the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
The congressional probe comes as UCLA faces an even bigger battle with the federal government. The Trump administration has already suspended $584 million in federal grants to the university, citing violations of the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in its handling of antisemitism complaints.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department proposed a sweeping $1 billion settlement that would allow UCLA to regain its federal funding. The agreement would also require UCLA to establish a $172 million compensation fund for alleged victims of discrimination.
UC President James Milliken pushed back, warning the massive penalty would cripple the system’s public mission.
“Demanding $1 billion from a publicly funded, leading research institution is a misuse of tax dollars that will hurt the University’s mission of serving students and the public,” Milliken said. “UCLA, and the larger UC system, has taken meaningful steps to make it clear that combating antisemitism and protecting Jewish students, faculty, and community members on campus is a top priority.”
The university is already facing legal fallout. In July, UCLA agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Jewish students and faculty over the school’s handling of anti-Israel protests. That case accused administrators of tolerating demonstrations that effectively created a “Jew Exclusion Zone” on part of campus.
The new House investigation adds further pressure to the UC system, demanding transparency into how top medical schools have confronted antisemitism allegations.
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