While higher education in the United States is seen by many to have lost its bearings, some establishments are encouraging open and free debate among their students with a formation rooted in a Catholic moral and intellectual tradition

On 5 December 2023, three presidents of elite, secular universities appeared before a congressional committee. Elise Stefanik, a Republican member of Congress, asked each of them in turn if advocating for the genocide of Jews would violate their school’s rules against bullying and harassment. Harvard University president Claudine Gay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth and University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill all struggled to answer. “It can be, depending on the context,” said Gay. One wished Stefanik had followed up by asking in what context calling for genocide against Jews would be acceptable.