EXCLUSIVE — A group of House Republicans led by Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) demanded Education Secretary Miguel Cardona explain what his department is doing to protect freedom of speech on college campuses.

In a Friday letter to Cardona, Foxx and 12 other Republicans demanded Cardona and the Department of Education explain what they have done to protect campus free speech after an incident at San Francisco State University this month in which former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines was attacked after giving a speech about why athletes should be required to compete based on their biological sex.

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Gaines, who now works as a spokeswoman for the Independent Women's Forum, competed against UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as a woman, during the 2022 NCAA swimming national championships. Gaines tied Thomas and has since become an outspoken proponent of laws requiring athletes to compete based on their biological sex.

In their letter, Foxx and the other representatives noted the response by SFSU was "inadequate" and that the university president, Lynn Mahoney, "minimized the abhorrent conduct of the students."

"The Department of Education has been strangely silent about SFSU’s lack of adequate safety preparation, and more broadly it has failed to demonstrate any leadership on the free exchange of ideas on campuses," the representatives wrote in their letter. "Further, the increasing proliferation of cancel culture in American postsecondary education continues to chill the ability of students, faculty, and guest speakers to express their viewpoints. Yet, the Department seems unfazed."

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The letter requests that the department brief the House Education and Workforce Committee no later than May 4 on the steps the department has taken to ensure that freedom of speech on college campuses is protected, including what the department has done to protect the safety of speakers invited to college campuses.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Education for comment.