NEW YORK — New York City Council members slammed the head of the City University of New York Monday after he was unable to answer questions about the steps he is taking to fight antisemitism on campus.

“I do think it is outrageous that when we’re having this hearing on such an important topic, that the most rudimentary questions you’ve been unable to answer,” said Councilwoman Julie Menin, D-Manhattan, part of its Jewish caucus. “It’s just wholly unsatisfactory. It’s not enough just to show up.”

The issue has become a source of friction since last spring’s pro-Palestinian protests against the war in Gaza roiled college campuses across the city. The Council hearing came two months after the release of a high-profile report critical of current policies to combat antisemitism.

Over three hours on Monday, CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez tried to assure the Committee on Higher Education that CUNY is making progress on a number of recommendations from September by former chief judge Jonathan Lippman, including an overhauled anti-discrimination portal where students can lodge complaints.

But Council members repeatedly chided top CUNY officials for coming unprepared to answer their questions. Neither the chancellor nor his deputies were able to say how many complaints had been made since the portal’s inception, or what was the most common form of discrimination on campus.

The independent review was ordered by Gov. Kathy Hochul in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, as tensions boiled over on New York campuses. In the report, Lippman found CUNY’s online reporting portal was “ineffective” and “operates as a black box,” where people seldom know if their complaints are being thoroughly addressed or even considered. Students echoed those concerns during the hearing, saying they have been openly targeted with harmful stereotypes or excluded because of their backgrounds.

“I know the frustration of being ignored when incidents get reported. I saw no reprimand for these actions, and was left feeling invisible and unsupported by my administration,” said Maya Gavriel, a Jewish student at Baruch College, where a building was vandalized last month with the message: ‘OCT 7 IS FOREVER’ before the anniversary of Hamas’ attacks.

Adding to their concerns that little action was being taken, administrators declined to share student and staff disciplinary data. Congress made similar requests of university presidents during campus antisemitism hearings last school year, sparking tensions between college administrations and their faculty who said it violated academic freedom.

During the hearing, Matos Rodríguez announced CUNY planned to release a request for proposals later that day to improve its in-house reporting portal. The updated tool, expected to be live this summer, will provide regular updates on the statuses of complaints, he said. But the chancellor cautioned the technology is only half of the problem.

“We need additional resources to be able to have more individuals out there, investigating the complaints so that we can get back on a timely manner to our students, to our faculty and staff,” he said. “So technology is part of the equation, but we also are going to need additional personnel to do this, no matter how effective the technology might be.”

At least one elected seemed more keen on taking funding away. Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, R-Brooklyn, who last year brought a gun to a pro-Palestine protest at CUNY’s Brooklyn College, threatened to work with president-elect Donald Trump to keep the public university system in line.

“We should be more afraid of the incoming administration that promised to defund and take away accreditation from any universities that don’t deal with antisemitism on their campuses,” Vernikov said, “and I look forward to working with that administration to highlight the issues at City University of New York.”

Over the past two years, CUNY has invested $1.3 million in campus programs to combat hate, including $550,000 provided by the Council, Matos Rodríguez said during the hearing. Among the legislative body’s investments was an effort to scale up constructive dialogue trainings for CUNY students and faculty and staff. The chancellor also referenced a freedom of expression working group, previewed last week during his yearly State of the University address.

“I think in your heart, you know this is an important issue,” Councilman Eric Dinowitz, D-Bronx, chair of the higher education committee, told Matos Rodríguez. “But with that, this hearing is not about what’s in your heart. It’s about CUNY policies, and the policies that have so far failed to meaningfully keep our students safe and make them feel welcome on our CUNY campuses.”

At the same time, other students said the report and its follow-up hearing was making them feel less safe. A network of pro-Palestinian student groups across CUNY campuses criticized the inquiry as an attempt to crack down on their advocacy.

“This hearing and the Lippman report are part of a coordinated campaign to criminalize Palestinian solidarity at CUNY,” read a statement by CUNY4Palestine. “They seek to delegitimize the movement for Palestinian liberation by falsely equating it with anti-semitism, when in fact it is about human rights, justice, and ending the genocide.”

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