NEW JERSEY – Assemblywoman Aura Dunn secured confirmation from Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway that he would be willing to participate in legislative hearings on the campus protests and student safety during the Assembly budget hearing on Thursday.
“Many of my constituents are not only students, but also faculty and many have expressed their concerns about safety on campus,” Dunn (R-Morris) said at the hearing. “Would you be open to coming again before the legislature to really discuss the occurrences in a more focused and fuller discussion?”
Holloway responded, “Yes ma’am.”
Holloway was at the hearing to discuss higher education funding on Thursday, but also addressed the pro-Palestine encampment and negotiations to persuade the protestors to willingly leave campus. He confessed he did not attend the negotiations personally, but instead sent a representative from his cabinet and said the concessions that the university made should cost about $175,000.
Following those negotiations, Holloway has been asked to testify before the House Committee on Education and Workforce. Rutgers has also been named in an ongoing federal investigation over its handling of antisemitism on its campuses.
Several Republican legislators have voiced support for state legislative hearings with university administration.
