This column originally appeared in The Politics Brief, our weekly newsletter on the people, power and policies that shape New Yorkers’ lives.<\/p>\n
Sign up<\/a> to get the full version where you can ask questions, share news tips and weigh in on the conversation. Hits inboxes on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n To hear U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik tell it, her viral question of former Harvard University President Claudine Gay at a 2023 congressional hearing not only led to Gay\u2019s ouster but to a nationwide reckoning over higher education in America.<\/p>\n And it almost didn\u2019t happen, Stefanik said, because she had the flu.<\/p>\n The outgoing congressmember\u2019s new book, \u201cPoisoned Ivies,\u201d recounts the lead-up to that hearing before launching into a scathing critique of the campus protests that unfolded in the months after Hamas militants\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.<\/p>\n She traces her path from Harvard undergrad to antagonist, devotes a chapter to Columbia University and declares that American higher education is beset by \u201cmoral rot.\u201d Ivy League schools, Stefanik writes, have become \u201chotbeds of radical ideology, groundless elitism, intellectual laziness and anti-American hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n She described her book in an interview as an important contribution to the historical record, given that \u201ctraditional media would sort of brush this under the rug saying this was only a few incidents at a few different campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe book captures that this was a widespread systemic crisis at a very important moment in time that is the hinge point of having to rebuild higher education,\u201d Stefanik said.<\/p>\n It is far from a nuanced history. Stefanik describes the demonstrators as \u201cpro-Hamas\u201d and recounts the worst antisemitic incidents on campuses. Her tone is angry and incredulous.<\/p>\n According to Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick, while the demonstrations included a number of indefensible actions, many students were trying to advocate for Palestinian rights and dignity.<\/p>\n \u201cIf everything is antisemitism, nothing is antisemitism,\u201d Spitalnick said. \u201cAnd part of what the work is right now is to help people distinguish between criticism of Israeli policy and advocacy for Palestinian rights and where the line is crossed into antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n Harvard spokespeople didn\u2019t return a message seeking comment. A Columbia spokesperson said the uptown Ivy \u201cis committed to confronting antisemitism, and all forms of discrimination, through a sustained, multipronged approach.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPoisoned Ivies\u201d is the biggest move this year from Stefanik, 41, who was once New York\u2019s most prominent Republican. While she signed the book deal in the spring of 2024, \u201cauthor\u201d wasn\u2019t supposed to be the biggest thing on her agenda. <\/p>\n President Donald Trump nominated Stefanik to be United Nations ambassador, but withdrew the offer<\/a> out of concerns about the GOP\u2019s narrow margin in the House of Representatives. She then launched a campaign for governor<\/a>, but dropped out<\/a> after Trump refused to endorse her in a primary against Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stefanik won her first term in Congress in 2014. She\u2019ll leave Congress at the end of this year. In the interview, she declined to weigh in on who should succeed her, and said she was focused on her book when asked about Blakeman\u2019s campaign. She said she had no future plans to announce.<\/p>\n As in most politicians\u2019 books, Stefanik is the main character. But she told me she didn\u2019t want to write a typical political book, where the author presents the entirety of their experiences to explain what drives them.<\/p>\n Instead, the book can be read as a long job application for a role running an institution of higher learning, or setting education policy in a Republican administration. When I said so, Stefanik didn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n \u201cI had amazing teachers and that changed my life for the better, the quality of education that I had, particularly growing up in K-12,\u201d she said. \u201cI’m excited about the next chapter and I know that education will likely be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen hereWe want to hear from you<\/p>\n Which politician\u2019s book, published after 2000, have you enjoyed most?<\/p>\n