Amid Columbia protests, safety concerns, Speaker Mike Johnson is off base on hybrid classes plan

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s April 24 visit to Columbia University in New York City amid pro-Palestine protests surrounding the Israel-Hamas war highlighted the tension over such activism on college campuses across the country.. 

The nationwide protests, which have so far resulted in hundreds of arrests, have sparked political debate over freedom of speech and campus safety. The protests are aimed at Israel’s war in Gaza and the violence, which the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza has said has left more than 34,000 dead. The war was intended to counter Hamas, which committed widespread attacks on civilians in Israel on Oct. 7. 

For several weeks, pro-Palestinian protesters on American college and university campuses have decried civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza and have demanded that these institutions cut financial ties with Israel. Though most of the protests have been peaceful, some pro-Israel students have described some messages in campus protests as antisemitic and express concern about their physical safety.

During his visit to Columbia, Johnson, who was accompanied by a contingent of fellow Republican lawmakers, was booed and heckled as he criticized the university’s handling of the protests and urged sending in the National Guard to ensure Jewish students’ security. 

Later, during an April 24 CNN interview that aired after his Columbia visit, Johnson said he was standing up for "Jewish students who are in fear of their lives, who were cowering in their apartments right now, who are not coming to class. In fact, the administration recognized the threat was so great, they canceled classes. Now they've come out with this hybrid idea. ‘Well, if you're Jewish, maybe you do want to stay at home. Maybe you'd be better off for you.’"

Johnson called this attitude "so discriminatory. It's so wrong in every way. The responsibility of a university administrator is to keep peace on campus and ensure the safety of students — job No. 1."

Johnson’s comment prompted an April 25 post from a new account on X from the Columbia Journalism School devoted to fact-checking statements about the Columbia protests. 

The post quoted Columbia University's provost’s office, saying, "The university administration has not issued any directives or specific instructions to Jewish students about avoiding campus or taking classes remotely."

When PolitiFact contacted Columbia University’s public affairs office, it pointed to two letters senior administrators sent April 22.

One letter, which university president Minouche Shafik sent early that morning, said she was "deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus" and "announced additional actions we are taking to address security concerns." These included additional police presence and ID card checks along with added security at the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life during the Passover holiday, which began April 22.

"To deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps," Shafik wrote, "I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday (April 22). Faculty and staff who can work remotely should do so; essential personnel should report to work according to university policy. Our preference is that students who do not live on campus will not come to campus."

Nothing in Shafik’s letter urged Jewish students to stay away from classes, as Johnson had said. The distinction for Monday classes was between all students living off campus (who were encouraged to attend class virtually) and those living on campus (for whom virtual classes were an option).

The second letter, from Provost Angela V. Olinto and Chief Operating Officer Cas Holloway, was sent the evening of April 22.

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It said that for Columbia’s main campus, which has been the center of the university’s protests, most courses would become hybrid, meaning both in-person and virtual, until the end of the semester.

The letter said the hybrid approach was designed for "students who need such a learning modality" and that professors without classrooms equipped for virtual teaching should figure out a way to "hold classes remotely if there are student requests for virtual participation."

As with the first letter, administrators neither encouraged nor discouraged Jewish students from attending classes in person. The hybrid options were ethnically and religiously neutral, offered to anyone who felt uncomfortable attending class in person.

The day before the university sent its two letters, Jewish leaders on campus had expressed divergent views on whether Jewish students should remain on campus or stay away.

Johnson’s office did not answer inquiries for this article.

Johnson said Columbia told students, "Well, if you’re Jewish, maybe you do want to stay home."

The university did move to a "hybrid" system for classes starting the week of April 22. However, this was offered as an option for any student discomfited by the protests, Jewish or not. The university’s letters announcing the plan neither encouraged Jewish students to go remote nor sought to dissuade them from coming to campus.

We rate the statement False.