NATION: On Thursday, the House Education and Workforce Committee heard responses from Northwestern University President, Michael Schill, officials from Rutgers University and UCLA. Discussions and testimonies focused on the recent pro-Palestine protests that have marred campuses across the nation. While the questions asked by members of the House committee were concentrated on the civil and constitutional rights of the students, a number of the questions ,also, cited school officials in the area of antisemitism and biases -shown to Palestinian students during the protest> By Michelle Crawford-Sapenter "We, at Northwestern, believe in due process." --Northwestern President, Michael Schill Today, questions asked by panelists landed on the possible negotiations that may have transpired during the protests. According to responses by school officials , discussions were conducted with students with decisions being made involving disciplinary measures that may be taken in regard to the persistent protests. Congressional panelists' inquiries were, however, limited to the 3 university leaders who arrived for the hearing, however, the panel is expected to begin reaching across spectrum of 130 US colleges and university officials with questions involving on campus security, issues surrounding disciplinary measures and the possibility of any administrative biases. During the questioning, the committee found it necessary to inquire with school officials in regard everything from the occurrence of antisemitism to the steps taken by officials to suspend and evaluate students. The panel was able to uncover the steps taken by school officials who, at Rutgers and UCLA, suspended and evaluated 123 students. The steps that were taken by school officials would not compare to the number of students who, across the full gamut of 130 campuses totaled 3000 with the exception of Northwestern University whose President, Michael Schill, sought after an agreement with protesters to maintain peace. No arrests were made at Northwestern. House committee hearings have brought about essential results. As the House committee continues to conduct hearings calling for responses by US college and university officials, the inquiries have resulted in the dismissals of 3 school officials including the forced suspension of UCLA University police chief.
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