House Education and the Workforce Committee’s Final Warning to Harvard University: Produce Documents Related to Antisemitism Probe or Face a Subpoena

The House Education and the Workforce Committee, chaired by Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., has issued a final warning to Harvard University to produce documents related to the ongoing investigation into rampant antisemitism on the Ivy League school’s campus. The committee has been seeking information regarding Harvard’s response to the numerous incidents of antisemitism and steps taken to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff. However, the university has continually failed to produce the requested documents, leading the committee to threaten a subpoena.

In the letter to Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker and Interim President Dr. Alan Garber, Foxx reaffirmed her intent to issue a subpoena if Harvard does not provide priority documents by February 14, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. She stated that Harvard’s responses have been “grossly insufficient” and that the limited and dilatory nature of its productions is obstructing the committee’s efforts.

The committee’s investigation into antisemitism at Harvard comes after numerous incidents of antisemitic behavior on campus, including a professor who previously signed a letter accusing Israel of wanting to ethically cleanse Gaza being picked for the university’s antisemitism task force. The professor, whose name is Jonathan Frieden, weighed in on the matter, expressing his concerns after the appointment.

Harvard has failed to produce any of the meeting minutes and/or summaries from the Harvard Board of Overseers and Harvard Management Company, claiming that it has not identified any documents related to antisemitism or the war in Israel or Gaza for these bodies since October 7, 2023. Given the publicly documented antisemitism on Harvard’s campus, especially since the October 7 attacks, it would be shocking if the Board of Overseers and Harvard Management Company thought protecting Harvard’s Jewish students was so insignificant that the topic was not worthy of discussion at a single meeting.

Foxx has given Harvard until next Wednesday to produce all priority documents related to Harvard Corporation, Board of Overseers, and Harvard Management Company meeting minutes and/or summaries; all documents and communications since January 1, 2021, referring and/or relating to antisemitism, involving the Harvard Corporation and Harvard Board of Overseers; documents sufficient to show the findings and results of any disciplinary processes, changes in academic status, or personnel actions by Harvard towards Harvard students, employees, and other Harvard affiliates related to conduct involving the targeting of Jews, Israelis, Israel, Zionists, or Zionism since Jan. 1, 2021; and documents and communications referring and/or relating to the establishment of the newly formed President’s Task Force on Antisemitism and to the previous Antisemitism Advisory Group formed by then-President Gay.

The House committee first informed Harvard of its intent to move forward with an investigation of antisemitism at the school and provided an extensive list of documents that lawmakers intended to request on December 20, 2023. Foxx sent a letter to Pritzker and Garber on January 9, requesting documents and information regarding Harvard University’s response to antisemitism on its campus and its failure to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff.

Harvard responded to the committee on January 19, 2024, providing insight into its own investigation into plagiarism allegations against Gay but not about antisemitism. The committee found Harvard’s initial production of documents related to the antisemitism investigation to be “woefully inadequate.” Harvard produced 24 documents to the committee totaling 1032 pages, including letters from nonprofits and copies of student handbooks, all of which were already publicly available. Some of the documents sent to the committee included inexplicable redactions of information that were not included in the public versions.

The Harvard Corporation initially rallied behind former University President Claudine Gay after she was widely criticized for failing to clarify outright whether calls for intifada or the genocide of Jews violated the university’s code of conduct or policies against bullying and harassment while testifying before the House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing last year. However, Gay eventually resigned in January 2024 due to plagiarism allegations. The school’s board initially said a review of Gay’s scholarly work turned up “a few instances of inadequate citation” but no evidence of research misconduct. The allegations of plagiarism continued to surface through December 2023, and Gay ultimately stepped down from her position while remaining in a faculty role.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police, and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.

In conclusion, the House Education and the Workforce Committee has issued a final warning to Harvard University to produce documents related to the ongoing investigation into rampant antisemitism on the Ivy League school’s campus. The committee has been seeking information regarding Harvard’s response to the numerous incidents of antisemitism and steps taken to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff. However, the university has continually failed to produce the requested documents, leading the committee to threaten a subpoena. The investigation comes after numerous incidents of antisemitic behavior on campus, including a professor who previously signed a letter accusing Israel of wanting to ethically cleanse Gaza being picked for the university’s antisemitism task force. Harvard has until next Wednesday to produce all priority documents related to the investigation. The committee’s findings will be significant in understanding the extent of antisemitism on Harvard’s campus and the steps taken by the university to address the issue.