Back in May, for the third time since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, a trio of university presidents was marched in front of Congress for a round of hearings on campus anti-Semitism. Congressional Republicans peppered the heads of Northwestern, Rutgers, and UCLA with queries: Is “From the river to the sea” not code for the slaughter of Jews? (Eric Burlison, Missouri). Why were universities’ anti-Semitism centers and Jewish faculty not more involved in decision making? (Elise Stefanik, New York). Why is anti-Semitism “institutionalized” in university policy? (Kevin Kiley, California). Why did universities abandon their mission of keeping students safe? (Aaron Bean, Florida). Listening to the hearing, I was struck not so much by what conservative representatives were saying, but by how they were saying it. They sounded a lot like those liberal “snowflakes” they love to castigate.
Underlying their questions was a…