Enacts "the combating campus antisemitism act"; prohibits the granting of tuition assistance awards to any student who has knowingly engaged in promoting antisemitism in a manner that is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action, that constitutes "true threats"; makes related provisions.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1954
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. WEBER, CANZONERI-FITZPATRICK, GRIFFO, MARTINS, MATT-
ERA, OBERACKER, PALUMBO, RHOADS, ROLISON, TEDISCO -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to prohibiting the grant
of tuition assistance awards to any student who has knowingly engaged
in certain antisemitic activities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act may be known and shall be cited as
2 "the combating campus antisemitism act".
3 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 666 of the education law, as amended by
4 chapter 947 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as follows:
5 2. Eligible students. Tuition awards may be made to students, who
6 comply with the requirements provided in subdivisions three, five and
7 six of section six hundred sixty-one of this article, and (i) are also
8 part-time students matriculated in approved undergraduate degree
9 programs or enrolled and accepted into registered certificate programs
10 and (ii) if eligible to claim dependents or to be claimed as dependents
11 under the tax law, whose incomes do not exceed fifty thousand five
12 hundred fifty dollars or if ineligible whose incomes do not exceed thir-
13 ty-four thousand two hundred fifty dollars. The continuation of eligi-
14 bility for a tuition award shall require the retention of good academic
15 standing, as defined by the commissioner pursuant to article thirteen of
16 this chapter. Prior to the approval of any additional award pursuant to
17 this section, participating institutions shall review the academic
18 standing of all recipients of awards pursuant to this section; and
19 provided, further, that no tuition assistance award shall be provided to
20 any student, in any academic year, who has knowingly engaged in promot-
21 ing antisemitism in a manner that is directed to inciting or producing
22 imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03483-01-5
S. 1954 2
1 that constitutes "true threats," as defined by the United States supreme
2 court in Virginia v. Black (2003), or that constitutes "fighting words,"
3 pursuant to Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), or fails to adequately
4 address any such event. The term "antisemitism" shall have the same
5 meaning as the working definition for "antisemitism" as provided by the
6 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including
7 the contemporary examples of antisemitism cited by the International
8 Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The higher education services corpo-
9 ration of the state of New York shall establish guidelines for determin-
10 ing when a student has knowingly engaged in promoting antisemitism as
11 well as guidelines for actions that may be taken to restore and/or
12 resume a tuition assistance award.
13 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 667 of the education law, as amended by
14 chapter 622 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
15 1. Recipient qualifications. Tuition assistance program awards are
16 available for all students who are enrolled in approved programs and who
17 demonstrate the ability to complete such courses, in accordance with
18 standards established by the commissioner provided, however, that no
19 award shall be made unless tuition (exclusive of educational fees) and,
20 if applicable, the college fee levied by the state university of New
21 York pursuant to the April first, nineteen hundred sixty-four financing
22 agreements with the New York state dormitory authority charged for the
23 program in which the student is enrolled total at least two hundred
24 dollars a year, [and provided further that,] no award can exceed one
25 hundred percent of the amount of tuition charged; and provided, further,
26 that no tuition assistance award shall be provided to any student, in
27 any academic year, who has knowingly engaged in promoting antisemitism
28 in a manner that is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless
29 action and is likely to incite or produce such action, that constitutes
30 "true threats," as defined by the United States supreme court in Virgi-
31 nia v. Black (2003), or that constitutes "fighting words," pursuant to
32 Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), or fails to adequately address any
33 such event. The term "antisemitism" shall have the same meaning as the
34 working definition for "antisemitism" as provided by the International
35 Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including the contempo-
36 rary examples of antisemitism cited by the International Holocaust
37 Remembrance Alliance. The higher education services corporation of the
38 state of New York shall establish guidelines for determining when a
39 student has knowingly engaged in promoting antisemitism as well as
40 guidelines for actions that may be taken to restore and/or resume a
41 tuition assistance award.
42 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 667-a of the education law, as amended
43 by chapter 83 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
44 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds that to further
45 the goal of equal opportunity it is necessary to assure the availability
46 of supplemental assistance for the successful remediation of educa-
47 tionally disadvantaged students in addition to assistance currently
48 available under existing statute for students with financial need.
49 Accordingly, tuition assistance shall be extended to students whose need
50 for remediation precludes them from fulfilling the program pursuit and
51 academic progress requirements of the tuition assistance program; and
52 provided, further, that no supplemental tuition assistance award shall
53 be provided to any student, in any academic year, who has knowingly
54 engaged in promoting antisemitism in a manner that is directed to incit-
55 ing or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or
56 produce such action, that constitutes "true threats," as defined by the
S. 1954 3
1 United States supreme court in Virginia v. Black (2003), or that consti-
2 tutes "fighting words," pursuant to Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942),
3 or fails to adequately address any such event. The term "antisemitism"
4 shall have the same meaning as the working definition for "antisemitism"
5 as provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May
6 26, 2016, including the contemporary examples of antisemitism cited by
7 the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The higher education
8 services corporation of the state of New York shall establish guidelines
9 for determining when a student has knowingly engaged in promoting anti-
10 semitism as well as guidelines for actions that may be taken to restore
11 and/or resume a tuition assistance award.
12 § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 667-c of the education law, as amended
13 by section 1 of part E of chapter 56 of the laws of 2022, paragraph a as
14 amended by section 1 of part W of chapter 56 of the laws of 2024, and
15 paragraph b as amended by section 1 of part EE of chapter 56 of the laws
16 of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
17 1. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the
18 president of the higher education services corporation is authorized to
19 make tuition assistance program awards to:
20 a. part-time students enrolled at a degree granting institution of
21 higher education incorporated by the regents or by the legislature who
22 meet all requirements for tuition assistance program awards except for
23 the students' part-time attendance; and provided, further, that no part-
24 time tuition assistance award shall be provided to any student, in any
25 academic year, who has knowingly engaged in promoting antisemitism in a
26 manner that is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action
27 and is likely to incite or produce such action, that constitutes "true
28 threats," as defined by the United States supreme court in Virginia v.
29 Black (2003), or that constitutes "fighting words," pursuant to Chaplin-
30 sky v. New Hampshire (1942), or fails to adequately address any such
31 event. The term "antisemitism" shall have the same meaning as the work-
32 ing definition for "antisemitism" as provided by the International Holo-
33 caust Remembrance Alliance on May 26, 2016, including the contemporary
34 examples of antisemitism cited by the International Holocaust Remem-
35 brance Alliance. The higher education services corporation of the state
36 of New York shall establish guidelines for determining when a student
37 has knowingly engaged in promoting antisemitism as well as guidelines
38 for actions that may be taken to restore and/or resume a tuition
39 assistance award; or
40 b. part-time students enrolled at a community college or a public
41 agricultural and technical college in a non-degree workforce credential
42 program directly leading to the employment or advancement of a student
43 in a "significant industry" as identified by the department of labor in
44 its three most recent statewide significant industries reports published
45 preceding the student's enrollment in such non-degree workforce creden-
46 tial program. The state university of New York and the city university
47 of New York shall publish and maintain a master list of all eligible
48 non-degree workforce credential program courses and update such list
49 every semester. Eligible non-degree workforce credential programs shall
50 include those programs less than twelve semester hours, or the equiv-
51 alent, per semester. A student who successfully completes a non-degree
52 workforce credential program and receives part-time tuition assistance
53 program awards pursuant to this paragraph shall be awarded academic
54 credit by the state university of New York or city university of New
55 York upon matriculation into a degree program at such institution,
56 provided that such credit shall be equal to the corresponding credit
S. 1954 4
1 hours earned in the non-degree workforce credential program; and
2 provided, further, that no part-time tuition assistance award shall be
3 provided to any student, in any academic year, who has knowingly engaged
4 in promoting antisemitism in a manner that is directed to inciting or
5 producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce
6 such action, that constitutes "true threats," as defined by the United
7 States supreme court in Virginia v. Black (2003), or that constitutes
8 "fighting words," pursuant to Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942), or
9 fails to adequately address any such event. The term "antisemitism"
10 shall have the same meaning as the working definition for "antisemitism"
11 as provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on May
12 26, 2016, including the contemporary examples of antisemitism cited by
13 the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. The higher education
14 services corporation of the state of New York shall establish guidelines
15 for determining when a student has knowingly engaged in promoting anti-
16 semitism as well as guidelines for actions that may be taken to restore
17 and/or resume a tuition assistance award.
18 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
