In Case You Missed It, Bari Weiss’ recent article highlights new reporting from the Network Contagion Research Institute which found that over 200 American colleges and universities received $13 billion in previously undisclosed contributions from foreign regimes which has helped fuel antisemitism on college campuses.
Today, the Education and the Workforce Committee will vote on the DETERRENT Act, legislation that will stop foreign adversaries from targeting our nation’s education systems bringing much-needed transparency to foreign gifts and contracts.
Since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, it has been hard to miss the explosion of antisemitic hate that has gripped college campuses across the country. At Cornell, a student posted a call “to follow [Jews] home and slit their throats,” and a professor said the terror attack “energized” and “exhilarated” him. At Harvard, a mob of students besieged an Israeli student, surrounding him as they bellowed “shame, shame, shame.” At dozens of other campuses, students gathered to celebrate Hamas.
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Where did all of this hatred come from is a question worth pondering.
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Today, after months of research, the NCRI released a report (comprising four separate studies) following the money. The report finds that at least 200 American colleges and universities illegally withheld information on approximately $13 billion in undisclosed contributions from foreign regimes, many of which are authoritarian.
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Overall, authors of the report write, “a massive influx of foreign, concealed donations to American institutions of higher learning, much of it from authoritarian regimes with notable support from Middle Eastern sources, reflects or supports heightened levels of intolerance towards Jews, open inquiry and free expression.”
The NCRI report found that:
From 2015–2020, institutions that accepted money from Middle Eastern donors had, on average, 300 percent more antisemitic incidents than those institutions that did not.
From 2015–2020, institutions that accepted undisclosed funds from authoritarian donors had, on average, 250 percent more antisemitic incidents than those institutions that did not.
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Campuses that accept undisclosed money are on average ~85 percent more likely to see campaigns “targeting academic scholars for sanction, including campaigns to investigate, censor, demote, suspend, or terminate.”
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One thing I have a hard time believing is that these countries give nine- and ten-figure gifts to universities expecting nothing in return.
Background:
Today, November 8, at 10:15 a.m., the Education and the Workforce Committee will mark up H.R. 5933, theDefending Education Transparency and Ending Rogue Regimes Engaging in Nefarious Transactions(DETERRENT) Act.
The DETERRENT Act:
Slashes the foreign gift reporting threshold for colleges and universities from $250,000 down to $50,000, with an even stricter $0 threshold for countries of concern.
Closes reporting loopholes and provides transparency to Congress, intelligence agencies, and the public.
Requires disclosure of foreign gifts to individual staff and faculty at research-heavy institutions to protect those targeted the most by our adversaries.
Holds our largest private institutions accountable for their financial partnerships by revealing concerning foreign investments in their endowments.
Implements a series of repercussions for colleges and universities that remain noncompliant in foreign gift reporting such as fines and the loss of Title IV funding.
