The Biden-Harris Department of Education has heavily fined several Christian universities in the United States for alleged misconduct in a way that appears targeted. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ) wrote a letter to House Education Chair Representative Virginia Foxx (R-VA) calling for a hearing into this apparent targeting.
For additional context, Rep. Biggs's letter cited the $37.7 million fine imposed on Grand Canyon University (GCU) in October for supposed misconduct related to doctoral program costs, which the institution denied and is appealing.
More egregiously, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in an April House Appropriations hearing that he sought to shut down GCU for supposed predatory practices, which the university again denied.
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Additionally, Liberty University (LU) was fined $14 million in March for supposedly failing to comply with federal campus crime-reporting standards. Liberty acknowledged this, but some faculty and staff suggested the scrutiny and fine issued by the Department of Education were unfairly more severe than those historically displayed against secular colleges.
Case in point, as displayed in Rep. Biggs's letter, Michigan State University was fined $4.5 million for failing to report the sexual crimes of former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
Meanwhile, Ashland University, which features a program for incarcerated students, received a $6 million reimbursement request from the Department of Education for allegedly using an incorrect formula to calculate Pell Grants given to incarcerated students.
As a result, Biggs said, "It appears ED is weaponizing the federal government and making an example out of Liberty University."
"We request that the Education and Workforce Committee hold a hearing to thoroughly investigate ED's targeting of Christian universities and attempt to close them," Biggs concluded.
The letter's cosigners included fellow Arizona Republicans, Representatives Eli Crane (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ).
In May, Biggs voiced concerns over the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which was passed in the face of rising antisemitism expressed by pro-Palestine protesters. He and several other conservatives, such as Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), warned that the wording of the bill could potentially render portions of the New Testament "illegal" due to their wordage surrounding Christ's Crucifixion at the hands of the Jewish Pharisees.
