US college leaders grilled in Congress over Gaza protests

Three university leaders are testifying before Congress over their institutions' responses to campus protests over the Israel-Gaza war.

The leaders of Northwestern University, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and Rutgers University are appearing before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

They are expected to explain the negotiations between students and schools during the protests.

This marks the fourth time in six months that the heads of US universities will speak before the congressional committee.

Thousands of students, at more than 130 colleges and universities across the US, demonstrated in opposition to the war in Gaza. More than 3,000 demonstrators were arrested between April and May.

The committee has said it will focus questioning on what concessions were made in negotiations between students and universities to reduce or disband protest camps.

It also said it will discuss reports of antisemitism on campuses during the protests.

“The committee has a clear message for mealy mouthed, spineless college leaders: Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of your duty to your Jewish students,” said Republican committee chairwoman Virginia Foxx before the hearing.

The spotlight is likely to be on UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, whose university saw large protests and a camp that was attacked by counter-protesters.

Police and school officials were slow to respond to violence and were heavily criticised for their response. On Wednesday, the police chief at UCLA was temporarily removed and reassigned “pending an examination of our security processes”, the university said.

Michael Schill, the president of Northwestern and Jonathan Holloway, the president of Rutgers, will also speak before the committee.

Previous hearings by the committee have resulted in two Ivy League university heads stepping down.

The appearance Columbia University's president Dr Nemat Shafik at an April congressional hearing emboldened students on campus and led to them pitching tents on a campus lawn, spawning a wave of protests across the US.