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Harvard gets congressional subpoena over antisemitism probe
"Given Harvard’s vast resources and the urgency with which it should be addressing the scourge of antisemitism, the evidence suggests that the school is obstructing this investigation and is willing to tolerate the proliferation of antisemitism on its campus."
(Bloomberg) — The House Education and the Workforce Committee escalated its fight with Harvard University by issuing subpoenas to produce documents, including minutes from its leadership board and endowment, as part of a probe into antisemitism at the school.
Committee Chair Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, signed the orders Friday, accusing Harvard of failing to treat the inquiry with “appropriate seriousness.”
“Given Harvard’s vast resources and the urgency with which it should be addressing the scourge of antisemitism, the evidence suggests that the school is obstructing this investigation and is willing to tolerate the proliferation of antisemitism on its campus,” Foxx wrote in a letter accompanying the demands.
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Subpoenas were issued to interim president Alan Garber, board of trustees chair Penny Pritzker, and the chief executive officer of the school’s $51 billion endowment, Narv Narvekar. Foxx said Harvard has repeatedly failed to satisfy past requests despite deadline extensions and other accommodations. Responses to the subpoenas are due March 4.
Harvard has come under scrutiny from lawmakers, students, alumni and donors over how it’s handled allegations of antisemitism on campus in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The university’s president, Claudine Gay, stepped down Jan. 2 after her widely derided testimony to Congress in early December.
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The House Ways and Means Committee is conducting a separate inquiry into whether failures to condemn antisemitism could affect the tax-exempt status of Harvard and three other universities.
‘Good faith’
Foxx had recently warned Harvard the committee could send a subpoena. In a statement earlier this week Harvard said it already has responded “extensively and in good faith” to numerous demands from lawmakers, submitting 10 batches of documents totaling more than 3,500 pages.
“While subpoenas were unwarranted, Harvard remains committed to cooperating with the Committee and will continue to provide additional materials, while protecting the legitimate privacy, safety and security concerns of our community,” Harvard spokesman Jonathan Swain said on Friday.
In her latest letter, Foxx said 40% of the pages Harvard produced to her committee were already publicly available.
The panel demanded Pritzker and Garber hand over 11 categories of documents, including reports of any antisemitic incidents, records on disciplinary actions, meeting minutes and other communications referring to antisemitism. From Narvekar, the committee is seeking Harvard Management Co. meeting minutes from Oct. 7 through Jan. 2.
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