House Committee on Education and Workforce Probes Pomona for 'Antisemitic Incidents'

Representative Tim Walberg. Image via walberg.house.gov.

On March 27, Pomona College was among five institutions to be sent a letter from the House Committee on Education and Workforce concerning campus antisemitism. The Committee’s letter—addressed to President Gabi Starr, Acting President Robert Gaines, and Chair of the Board of Trustees Janet Benton—enumerates “several antisemitic incidents” at Pomona and requests the college to share information on Pomona’s disciplinary responses.

In a press release announcing the Committee’s letters, Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) criticize Pomona—as well as Barnard College, Bowdoin College, Northwestern University, and Sarah Lawrence College—for a “lackluster response to the rise in antisemitism” on campus. The Committee opens their letter to Pomona by noting its “F” grade in the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) 2025 Campus Antisemitism Report Card, and goes on to describe a series of “antisemitic incidents” contributing to the ADL’s assessment. 

Some of the letter’s examples of antisemitism precede the Israel-Hamas conflict altogether, with the Committee first naming the defacement of an Israeli Independence Day flyer in April 2023. The Committee also cites the Associated Students of Pomona College’s February 2024 referendum urging Pomona to “cease all academic support” for Israel and divest from weapons manufacturers and Israeli companies, labeling the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction campaign as a “a global antisemitic movement.” Other examples named include the Alexander Hall occupation in April 2024, the Marston Quad encampment in May 2024, the vandalization of President Starr’s home in September 2024, and the Carnegie Hall occupation on October 7, 2024. 

The Committee enjoins Pomona to fulfill three requests. First, they seek information related to “disciplinary actions taken against students involved” in the Carnegie occupation, including “e-mail communications related to…suspensions, expulsions…reprimands” and all other documents related to the Carnegie occupation’s conduct processes. The second demand requests similar disciplinary documents relating to the “vandalization and rampage at the residence of President Starr.” The final demand requires a list of all disciplinary action “associated with antisemitic incidents” from October 7, 2023 to date. Along with a date and description of the event, the Committee requires information on the status of the conduct proceedings, including the entities reviewing the case, the status of the alleged perpetrator (year, school, and enrolled/suspended/expelled standing), all disciplinary measures imposed, and “previous disciplinary incidents” the alleged perpetrators were involved with. 

On February 13, 2025, the Committee sent a similar letter to Columbia University, also citing “numerous antisemitic incidents” and requiring information on conduct proceedings. Like the letter addressed to Pomona, the Committee required Columbia’s administrators to produce “all disciplinary records…all past disciplinary charges, proposed sanctions, and enacted sanctions” of Columbia students involved in a list of incidents dating back to the April 2024 Hamilton Hall occupation. One month later, on March 13, the Trump Administration canceled $400 million in Columbia’s government grants, requiring changes in student discipline and demonstration policies before reinstating funding. Columbia has since yielded to these demands, agreeing to hire more internal security, instate a facial covering ban, and adopt a formal definition of antisemitism, among others. 

In an email sent March 30, Acting President Gaines informed the Pomona student body that Pomona has been in contact with the Committee’s representatives regarding the “scope of its inquiry” and that Pomona will meet the Committee’s requirements “in good faith.” He also affirmed Pomona’s legal obligations under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the school’s commitment to protecting “the release of personally identifiable student information consistent with the relevant privacy laws.” Pomona’s administrators have until April 10, 2025 to comply with the Committee’s demands for disciplinary records. 

The Committee’s letter is only the latest government inquiry into claims of antisemitism at Pomona. The college has been under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) since August, and was recently sent a letter by OCR warning of potential penalties for noncompliance with Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal financial support.

When asked to comment, a representative of Pomona College deferred to Acting President Gaines’ statement.