Ex-MLB star running for Senate goes to bat for plan to cut federal cash for schools allowing unrest

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University presidents have to stand up: Steve Garvey

'Fox News @ Night' panelists Steve Garvey, Aaron Cohen and Rabbi Chaim Mentz discuss Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemning anti-Israel protests on American college campuses.

Former MLB star and U.S. Senate candidate Steve Garvey said if he's elected to Congress he'd push for Ivy League colleges and universities to appear before Congress to testify about their failure to protect their Jewish students.

"At this time, next year, as a sitting U.S. senator, I would call to have committees that will talk to these presidents and leadership and ask why they haven't protected their students," the California Republican told Fox News Digital in an interview. "And if they can't protect them, let's talk about affecting them with federal funds and start to take back the federal funds.

"If you're not going to protect these Americans that are on your campus, then you're going to have to make a decision on what's important to you."

Garvey said the demonstrators on college campuses should be arrested and prosecuted "to the full extent of the law," adding the protests are "terrorism under the guise of free speech."

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Steve Garvey says he'd call for a hearing if elected to the Senate for Ivy League presidents to testify about failures to protect students amid anti-Israel unrest across the nation.  (Getty)

On Thursday, the University of South California called off its graduation ceremony for 2024 graduates as anti-Israel agitators descended upon campus, where 93 arrests were made. The college campus is among several universities in the U.S. experiencing unrest, as demonstrators chant "death to America," "We are Hamas" and advocate for divestment from Israel.

Earlier this month, USC faced intense backlash for barring its valedictorian, Muslim biomedical engineering student Asna Tabassum, from speaking at the commencement ceremony over safety concerns after her critics accused her of promoting anti-Israel rhetoric on social media. 

"What's happening on campuses is against the law," Garvey said. "There's an attack physically, mentally and spiritually on these Jewish students. We need to stand up now more than ever."

Garvey also said university presidents should "take back their campuses" and "form a protective environment for these students that are being attacked."

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Monique, of ANSWER Coalition, leads chants as anti-Israel students and non-students take over Alumni Park at USC in Los Angeles Wednesday, April 24, 2024, calling for divestment in Israel over the Israel-Hamas war. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

Garvey, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres during his professional baseball career, is facing off against Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff to fill the late Dianne Feinstein's Senate seat. The two advanced to the November general election in this year's primary.

His comments come as the Israel-Hamas war has dragged on for more than six nonths. Nearly 1,300 Israelis were killed Oct. 7, and thousands of civilian deaths have been recorded in the region since the terrorist attack.

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An anti-Israel rally is held at the steps of Lowe Library on the grounds of Columbia University April 22, 2024, in New York City.  (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

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Yale, MIT, UC Berkeley, the University of Southern California, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia are some of the campuses where major demonstrations broke out this week.