Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of antisemitism. App State Wellness and Prevention Services provides free mental health resources for students and can be reached at (828) 262-3148.
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestine activist Khymani James filed a lawsuit Thursday against Rep. Virginia Foxx.
According to the suit, James was suspended from Columbia in 2024 and denied permission to return in August 2025. The suit alleges this suspension resulted from Foxx’s abuse of her role as a member of Congress and chairperson of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
In January 2024, James said in a video posted to social media, “Zionists don’t deserve to live” among other comments against Zionism and Israel. James was banned from campus and later suspended.
Under the leadership of Foxx, the committee investigated and released a report in October 2024 about anti-semitism on college campuses. According to the committee’s website, the report found university administrators failed to administer proper punishments to students who “engaged in antisemetic conduct.”
The lawsuit from James alleges the committee unfairly equated anti-Zionism with antisemitism under Foxx’s leadership.
The suit reads, “In carrying out its purported investigation, the Committee, chaired by Foxx, deliberately and officially conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism. It did so in its official adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance standards, which violate the First Amendment by their inclusion of quite ordinary and mainstream speech critical of Israel.”
According to the lawsuit, Columbia signed an agreement with the federal government in July 2025. The university paid the federal government $221 million and adopted the committee’s IHRA standards.
Shortly after the settlement, according to the suit, James asked permission to return to Columbia but was denied. The lawsuit alleges the suspension and “de facto expulsion” of James was done to appease Foxx and her committee.
Foxx publicly responded to the lawsuit on X, claiming it lacked credibility and a factual basis.
“I stand behind the Committee’s antisemitism investigation and won’t be deterred from my fight to protect Jewish students from discrimination on campuses across the nation,” Foxx wrote.
