As George Mason University grapples with the latest incident of antisemitism linked to its Fairfax, Virginia, campus, Democrats in the Virginia State Senate rejected Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s nomination of one of the nation’s preeminent antisemitism scholars to its Board of Visitors.
Kenneth Marcus, the Brandeis Center’s founder and a former undersecretary in the Education Department’s civil rights division, was one of a few Youngkin nominees who were struck from consideration by the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee on a party-line vote.
Marcus has been described by The New York Times as “the man who helped redefine campus antisemitism,” and told Fox News Digital in a Wednesday interview he had hoped to continue that work at GMU.
“It was disappointing to see Democratic senators moving to block my nomination at precisely the same time that we were achieving a fairly significant victory over antisemitism in our Harvard University case,” Marcus said, noting he had served without incident on the GMU board since mid-2024.
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“There’s really nothing that I can think of that I have done that would stir any controversy other than working to protect George Mason students from antisemitism,” he said, noting the school has struggled with the issue as of late.
A GMU freshman IT major and Egyptian national is being investigated by the FBI on charges of distributing information on weapons in furtherance of a violent crime and threats against a foreign official, according to NBC News.
Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, 18, of Falls Church, Virginia, was allegedly trying to orchestrate a bombing of the Israeli Consulate in New York City.
Leaders from Students for Justice in Palestine were also banned from campus after police found “Death to Jews” and “Death to America” signage along with firearms.
“This is a huge issue right now at George Mason with some very disturbing high-profile issues happening,” Marcus said.
A person familiar with Youngkin’s thoughts on the situation said the governor has “kept his cool” and is not engaging publicly but is incensed about the Democrats’ move.
“He is quietly working in hopes Democratic senators are seeing the error of their ways,” the person told Fox News Digital.
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Marcus said he worked hard to combat antisemitism on campus in the seven months he has been on campus. “I have been very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the administration and board of that institution to address a very serious problem going on here.”
Marcus said one item he had been working on was incorporating antisemitism definitions into GMU’s anti-discrimination policy.
“Since I joined the board, the most significant thing I’ve done has been to work with the administration to incorporate the idea of a working definition of antisemitism into George Mason’s anti-discrimination policy. That was a huge advance, and it’s been very influential. It was disappointing to see members of the General Assembly respond as they have,” he said.
GMU has also been subject to anti-Zionist vandalism. As of last February, GMU President Gregory Washington said there had been at least 70 antisemitism incident reports to administrators and acknowledged a federal probe into reported malign activity.
“I have been asked on numerous occasions to stop the student protests. Even when you’re protesting against me, I still support it because I support freedom of speech,” Washington told the Fourth Estate student newspaper.
The Senate P&E Committee also removed nominations for former Vice President Mike Pence Chief of Staff Marc Short and Nina Rees, a senior official for the George W. Bush Presidential Library, as well as an education attorney from the Richmond firm McGuire-Woods.
Richmond Republicans are hoping to add Marcus’ name back to the legislation listing confirmed nominees on Thursday, but a source suggested their path remains unlikely without any Democrat defections in the 21-19 Senate.
Fox News Digital reached out to both Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Alexandria, and Senate P&E Committee Chair Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, about Marcus’ rejection.
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