US House Committee Demands Harvard University Hand Over Documents in Campus Antisemitism Probe

Harvard University has been given two weeks to hand over documents requested by the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce for its investigation into antisemitism at one of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher education.

The university, which spent the fall semester under fire for allegedly ignoring rampant antisemitic harassment and intimidation, was sent the directive by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who chairs the congressional committee.

“There is evidence antisemitism has been pervasive at Harvard since well before the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack,” Rep. Foxx wrote in a letter to Harvard’s leadership, referring to the Hamas terror group’s massacre across southern Israel that launched the current war in Gaza. In her letter, Foxx cited a report by antisemitism watchdog AMCHA Initiative, which found that Harvard had the most antisemitism incidents on college campuses during the 2021-2022 academic year, and a senior dissertation by Sarah Goldfischer, which said that 62.5 percent of students she interviewed reported experiencing antisemitism or personally knew someone who had.

“Harvard has cited its supposed commitment to free speech — in former President [Claudine] Gay’s words, ‘even of views that are objectionable, outrageous, and offensive’ — as limiting it from taking action against antisemitism on campus,” Foxx continued. “However, Harvard has demonstrated a clear double standard in how it has tolerated antisemitic harassment and intimidation, but acted to suppress and penalize expression it deemed problematic.”

The letter, sent on Tuesday, was addressed to Penny Pritzker, senior fellow at the Harvard Corporation, and Alan Garber, the interim president of Harvard.

Foxx went on to cite numerous widely reported antisemitic incidents that occurred at Harvard last semester, including the mobbing of a Jewish student by a throng of anti-Israel activists — one of whom was the editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review — screaming “Shame!” into his ears as he tried to get away. Students have also chanted openly “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which are widely interpreted as calls for violence against Jews and the destruction of Israel. During a hearing before US lawmakers in December, former Harvard president Claudine Gay refused to say that calling for the genocide of Jews violated university rules — a widely derided response that contributed to her resignation last week.

To aid her committee’s investigation, Foxx requested in Tuesday’s letter a trove of documents, including “all reports of antisemitic acts or incidents” and “related communications” going back to 2021 that were sent to Harvard’s offices of the president, general counsel, dean of students, police department, human resources, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, among others. She also requested documentation on Harvard Kennedy School professor Marshall Ganz, who, the school determined during an investigation, “denigrated” several students for being “Israeli Jews.” Foxx gave Harvard a deadline of Jan. 23 by which to comply.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is also investigating other top universities, including the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to determine whether administrators at those schools ignored antisemitic discrimination. The probes were announced after the committee grilled the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT about their plans to respond to rising anti-Jewish hate in their communities. During the hearing, Gay of Harvard and Elizabeth Magill of Penn — both of whom have since resigned from their positions — as well as Sally Kornbluth of MIT largely evaded lawmakers’ questions, infamously equivocating on whether calling for the genocide of Jews contravenes school rules.

For Harvard, America’s oldest institution of higher education and arguably its most prestigious, the presence of radical anti-Zionists on  campus has been a persistent issue. At the start of this academic year, a student and anti-Israel activist interrupted a convocation ceremony held by the school, shouting at Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana, “Here’s the real truth — Harvard supports, upholds, and invests in Israeli apartheid, and the oppression of Palestinians!”

However, the broader public largely did not take notice until Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. As scenes of Hamas terrorists abducting children and desecrating dead bodies circulated worldwide, 31 student groups at Harvard issued a statement blaming Israel for the attack and accusing the Jewish state of operating an “open air prison” in Gaza, despite the Israeli military having withdrawn from the territory in 2005.

For her part, Gay waited several days to condemn the Hamas atrocities, and when she did, her statement said nothing about antisemitism. When she resigned at the beginning of the new year, she accused her critics of racism.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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