Rep. Elise Stefanik skewers CUNY chancellor, calls for his ouster over ‘failed’ leadership on NYC campus antisemitism

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik skewered the head of CUNY — calling on him to resign for “failing Jewish students” and for flunking his House testimony Tuesday on combating campus antisemitism.

The Republican congresswoman zeroed in on Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez over the hiring of a chief diversity officer who previously worked for a pro-Hamas, Israel-bashing group — saying that if the CUNY boss doesn’t step down, Gov. Kathy Hochul should bounce him.

“You have failed the people of New York. You have failed Jewish students in New York State, and it is a disgrace,” Stefanik — who is mulling a run for governor against Hochul next year — told the chancellor during the House Education & Workforce Committee hearing.

She grilled Matos Rodríguez about CUNY’s hiring of Saly Abd Alla, who had previously been employed as a civil rights director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

“I was not directly responsible for that hire,” Matos Rodríguez, who has overseen CUNY’s 26 degree-granting institutions since 2019, insisted when asked if he was aware of Abd Alla’s previous employer.

CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case involving the funneling over $12 million to Hamas, Stefanik noted.

“You hired Abd Alla as CUNY’s chief diversity officer, and this role includes overseeing antisemitism complaints and initiatives. Were you aware at that time that this senior administrator that you hired was previously employed by CAIR?” Stefanik asked.

Matos Rodríguez said Abd Alla was hired to be the chief diversity officer “at the central office with no responsibility over cases that have to deal with students or faculty.”

“Let me remind you, CAIR was a co-conspirator in the terrorist financing case and has ties to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” Stefanik continued, adding, “Is she currently still employed by CUNY?”

“She is,” Matos Rodríguez replied.

“So, no action, just words here today,” Stefanik said.

Stefanik also asked Matos Rodríguez if he knew that law professor Ramzi Kassem, the head of CUNY Law School’s legal clinic, Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility or CLEAR, was representing Mahmoud Khalil, the anti-Israel Columbia University protester who was detained by the Trump administration.

“CUNY CLEAR. I’m not familiar with them,” Matos Rodríguez said.

“This is the chief pro-Hamas agitator that led to the antisemitic encampments at Columbia, the rioting and violent takeover of Hamilton Hall, the harassment and physical assault of Jewish students,” Stefanik said of Khalil.

“You allow the head of the clinical legal organization and a professor to be the chief legal aid to Mahmoud Khalil and do his legal defense fund?”

Matos Rodríguez responded, “Those decisions are made in the clinics and are made in the individual campuses.”

In another case, Stefanik asked about delays in removing a swastika from the main building of CUNY’s Hunter College campus on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in the fall of 2023.

She displayed a Nov. 13, 2023 email apparently by Hunter’s Interim Vice President for Administration Gustavo Ordonez telling Leah Garrett, the school’s chair of Jewish Studies: “Apologies, but it’s not that simple.”

Garrett has since filed a federal workplace discrimination suit against CUNY.

CUNY typically removes hateful symbols right away but there was a delay in doing so in this case because officials “were working with the New York City Police Department” on a potential hate crime case, Matos Rodríguez told the panel.

In a joint press conference after the hearing with Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov in DC, Stefanik said Matos Rodríguez had to go, and claimed Hochul was part of the problem.

“The scourge of antisemitism has skyrocketed on her watch,” Stefanik said of Hochul.

“She needs to call on this chancellor to resign. She needs to fire him today.”

Vernikov agreed, telling reporters: “With one phone call, she can make sure the chancellor gets removed.”

“We need competent leadership. The chancellor is unwilling and unable to address antisemitism and protect his Jewish students,” she said.

Hochul created a task force headed by former New York state chief judge Jonathan Lippman that issued recommendations last year to weed out campus antisemitism at CUNY.

Matos Rodríguez is likely not going anywhere. He has strong support among CUNY’s trustees, appointed by the governor and mayor.

Overall, he defended CUNY’s performance in tamping down antisemitism and said officials have learned from past mistakes.

“Antisemitism has no place at CUNY,” he testified.

“And although our response has not always been perfect, our commitment to this important work has never wavered. Our commitment to the safety of the members of our Jewish community, and to our entire community, is non-negotiable.”

He noted the $3 million in vandalism caused by anti-Israel protestors who created an encampment at CUNY’s City College last year.

“We learned from that experience. We now have a zero-tolerance policy against encampments,” Matos Rodríguez said, adding CUNY hired more than 150 full-time security employees and contracted with an additional 250 security personnel.

“Our approach has shown results,” he said.