Congress called President Jeffrey Armstrong to testify for campus antisemitism. He discussed Cal Poly’s efforts to address the issue.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong took his labeled seat at the wooden desk in the hearing room at 10:16 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7. Armstrong testified in front of the Committee on Education and Workforce in the hearing, “Beyond the Ivy League: Stopping the Spread of Antisemitism on American Campuses.”
He took his seat as the last witness on the panel, immediately grabbed a plastic water bottle and chugged it.
Presidents from Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania testified in front of the same committee, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI). After the hearing, only MIT’s president remained in their position with the other two leaders ultimately resigning.
In the end, the Republican-majority committee directed much of its harsh and unrelenting questioning to Haverford College President Wendy Raymond and DePaul University President Robert L. Manuel.
Mustang News counted that Armstrong talked for approximately eight minutes out of the 195 minutes of the hearing. Many of the questions directed to him warranted a yes or no answer with some elaboration. A little over three minutes of his speaking time was his pre-written testimony where he condemned acts of prejudice and bias.
“I’m really glad that we could be here today and really stress the point that antisemitism or any forms of discrimination on campus have no place,” Armstrong told Mustang News after the hearing. “I’m also proud of all the work that our faculty and staff have done to support student success, and they’ve done it over the years. We’re really excited that could be highlighted as well.”
In a hearing recap press release, Armstrong’s name was mentioned once next to the following quote:
“The October 7th attacks on innocent men, women, and children were horrific. The violence perpetrated that day must be condemned without equivocation. And the targeting of Jewish students on campuses across the U.S. that followed was terrible and unacceptable,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong also said the number of Jewish students enrolled at Cal Poly doubled since 2011 and noted “longstanding partnerships” between various Jewish organizations on campus. Student leadership from SLO Hillel and Chabad, including Avi Shapiro and Mia Kaplan Kristensen were present behind Armstrong during the hearing with shiny Cal Poly pins on their jackets.
He also shared changes to student orientation and employee training to include education about antisemitism and the new Presidential Antisemitism Task Force, which he announced on April 2.
“Our efforts to support Jewish students and combat antisemitism have made progress, Armstrong said. “I want to emphasize that our goal is continuous improvement. We work to give each student the safest possible environment, free from discrimination and religious intolerance, so they can learn, grow and succeed.”
While the committee’s previous letter noted alleged incidents and protests on Cal Poly’s campus, including a Cal Poly professor disrupting an Israeli speaker and shouting profanities, graffiti with pro-Palestinian messages on campus buildings and a protest blocking the Cal Poly entrance through California Boulevard, the events were minimally brought up by committee members.
The majority of the hearing was focused on Haverford and DePaul’s incidents, including DePaul’s 17-day encampment and Haverford’s removal of Bi-Co Chabad posters around campus.
For the Cal Poly president, most answers were a “Yes” or “No,” before turning off his microphone for 30 minutes at a time while his neighboring witnesses on the panel faced scrutiny.
“This is a matter particularly seriously we have to do better at Cal Poly,” said Armstrong during his opening statement. “The people who do not live up to our commitment to prohibit prejudice and bias, we hold them accountable. We do not tolerate threatening activity.”
When the Cal Poly president was asked how the university handles discriminatory or antisemitic incidents, Armstrong responded with, “They would immediately be brought in and put through our adjudication processes, with consequences up to and leading to expulsion.”
Committee members like Rep. Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY), Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) harshly questioned and condemned Raymond and Manuel, threatening to cut federal funding to their respective universities and remove them from their positions.
Armstrong was questioned about the number of Cal Poly students facing discipline for antisemitic conduct after Oct. 7, 2023, and clearly responded that six students were either suspended or on probation.
Raymond, however, declined to state specific numbers or account for investigations into antisemitic actions on Haverford’s campus, which was a focus of many Republicans’ questioning.
Ranking Member Robert C. Scott. (D-VA) criticized the Republican committee members and the Trump administration for holding multiple hearings on antisemitism, but no other minority groups facing discrimination on college campuses.
“Here we are again, complaining about the problem without offering real solutions, all the while, the administration ignores due process and takes a chainsaw to the Office of Civil Rights, the very office responsible for investigating and addressing antisemitism and putting the Community Relations Service, the Department of Justice, also on the chopping block,” Scott said. “Our priorities must lie with the students.”
Republican committee members thought differently and were insistent on the hearing’s validity in stopping antisemitic actions and protests on college campuses.
“I oppose discrimination of all kinds. Antisemitism, racism, sexism, discrimination of all kinds,” Walberg concluded the hearing. “I believe this committee will stand in that same light, but we’re here today talking about antisemitism that has wrapped up multiple college and university campuses. Remember, this happened before this administration took office. We want it to end.”
Cal Poly’s President received compliments from committee members and small nods about the new Presidential Task Force and Cal Poly’s graduation success.
“You have one of the highest returns on investment for students,” Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) said. “When your graduates get out, they go out to work and make a good return on investment. Thank you for that.”