You won’t believe what else she wrote to aid her testimony
Dr. Wendy Raymond, president of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, turned up to a congressional hearing on campus anti-Semitism lugging giant notecards reminding her to “think,” “breathe,” and “remember body posture,” but also to not equivocate on the question of whether it’s bad to call for the extermination of Jews. It was the sort of visual aide former president Joe Biden might have carried (and probably still does) to help him find and use the bathroom.
“Calls for genocide. Yes, abhorrent, violates our policies,” Raymond’s notes read, according to a photo snapped by an attendee at Wednesday’s hearing. The notecard went on explain that “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a popular rallying cry among pro-Hamas protesters that implies the elimination of Jews and the state of Israel, was also a violation of Haverford’s policy because it had “become a dog whistle” used to “intimidate or harass” Jewish students. In response to questions about foreign policy, Raymond was instructed to say she would “leave that to the experts” because she was “focused on making Haverford the best College I can.”
It’s unclear why Raymond required notes to prevent her from humiliating herself in the manner of Claudine Gay and Liz Magill, the former presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania who lost their jobs after appearing at a similar hearing in December 2023. Under questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) about whether it would violate university rules to call for the genocide of Jews, both leaders had dodged by arguing it would depend on the “context.”
The hearing on Wednesday was intended to highlight the problem of campus anti-Semitism beyond the Ivy League. Haverford and the other schools represented, DePaul University in Chicago and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, had received failing grades from the Anti-Defamation League for their efforts (or lack thereof) to combat anti-Semitism on campus.
Raymond’s prepared notes, which may or may not have been created with the help of ChatGPT, did not prevent her from struggling through a series of questions from Stefanik, who asked what disciplinary actions had been taken against a Haverford student group that called for the “complete dismantling of the apartheid settler colonial state of Israel by all means necessary.” Raymond said the statement was “repugnant because of what it can mean,” stressing the word “can” as though to suggest its repugnancy was context-dependent. When pressed, Raymond repeatedly declined to say whether the students involved were subject to any disciplinary actions beyond a vague and passive assertion that “there have been soon” actions taken.
Stefanik unloaded on Raymond in a social media post after the hearing, which included a photo of the Haverford president’s notecards. “The president of Haverford showed up to a congressional hearing on antisemitism with flashcards of pre-written answers,” the congresswoman wrote. “Not convictions. Not moral clarity. Flashcards. This is what higher ed leadership looks like now—scripted, spineless, and coached to the bone.”
The large notecard visible in the photo circulating on social media was not the only one Raymond had in her possession during the hearing. The Washington Free Beacon has exclusively obtained the others, and they’re just as ridiculous. Enjoy!
Read the full article here
