University of Minnesota Interim President Jeff Ettinger will appear before a state Senate committee Tuesday afternoon, where he’s expected to face questions about the U’s handling of antisemitism complaints.
The hearing comes at a time when college leaders across the country face scrutiny over their responses to the war between Israel and Hamas, a conflict that has reinvigorated old debates about how colleges should balance concerns for professors’ academic freedom and students’ safety.
Leaders of some colleges, including Harvard University, have been called before Congress in recent months to explain their responses to antisemitism complaints. Others, such as those at Northwestern University, have been asked to explain their decisions to negotiate with pro-Palestinian protesters who set up encampments and demanded their schools divest from companies with ties to Israel. Another Congressional committee hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
The war between Israel and Hamas continues to affect life at the U, even after the spring semester concluded. The hearing is happening in the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, chaired by Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-Saint Louis Park, who faced criticism from his own party members for his comments about Palestinians last year. It is occurring during Ettinger’s final week as interim president. Incoming President Rebecca Cunningham will officially begin work on Monday.
Ettinger announced earlier this month that he was pausing the search for a new director for the U’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The job had been offered to an Israeli historian who wrote that Israel was committing “a textbook case of genocide,” a statement that drew ire from some local Jewish organizations.
Last week, an assembly representing students and faculty in the U’s College of Liberal Arts voted to the express “no confidence” in Ettinger, saying they believed the move was unprecedented and feared it could chill free speech.
Regents continue to face calls to divest from companies with ties to Israel — and to resist those calls and instead invest in both Israelis and Palestinians. A deal negotiated to end a pro-Palestinian encampment that set up on the Twin Cities campus in the final days of the semester included a promise to disclose some information about the U’s investments.
The U is one of more than 100 schools being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for “discrimination involving shared ancestry,” a term the department uses to describe incidents that occur based on someone’s ancestry or nationality.
Bias reports at the U more than doubled in the 2023-24 school year, with 169 reports filed as of mid-June. Of those, 54 “reported bias against Israel/antisemitism” and 33 “reported bias against Palestine/Islamophobia.” Another 12 reports are related to the conflict in some other way, usually by expressing an opinion on the divestment debate.
This story is developing and will be updated.