At a congressional hearing Tuesday, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., called for Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to withdraw student loan forgiveness for students engaged in antisemitic protests on college campuses.
Cardona appeared before the House Education Committee to testify on the agency's priorities and policies and faced tough questioning from Foxx.
"Do you believe the students who spend their time in college calling for the destruction of an ethnic religious group or spend their time preventing students of particular ethnic religious groups from walking freely deserve to have their education paid for by taxpayers?" Foxx said.
Cardona declined to directly answer the question, but said he was proud of the work his department was doing to provide a lifeline to students.
"I'm talking about the students who are being antisemitic and stopping Jewish students from being able to go to class and threatening them," Foxx said. "Do you want the taxpayers to pay their loans off?"
Cardona said students who break the law should be held accountable but again declined to say if they should have their loans forgiven.
"Will you commit to ensuring that no student that has harassed other students or prevented other students from going to class or breaking laws receives any form of student loan forgiveness," Foxx said, continuing to press.
"We are committed to making sure campuses are safe," Cardona replied. "I condemn any form of hate or any violence on campus. I have spoken to students and educators who have experienced that."
On Friday, Cardona sent a letter to college and university presidents saying the antisemitic incidents Jewish students have reported are "abhorrent."
"There is no place for violence on campus ever," Cardona wrote. "People have a right to peacefully protest policies that they disagree with and, of course, to exercise their First Amendment rights. However, environments where students feel unsafe and experience discrimination on college campuses cannot be tolerated."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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