Harvard gives more papers to panel probing for bias
Lawmaker calls response ‘useless’ and ‘shameful’
Harvard University on Monday said it had turned over additional materials to a congressional committee probing campus antisemitism during the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Harvard continues to respond, in good faith, to the House Education and Workforce Committee’s inquiry into efforts to combat antisemitism,” said university spokesperson Jason Newton in a statement.
“With an additional submission today, Harvard has provided nearly 4,900 pages of information in 11 submissions since January, including non-public information and internal communications, along with public information, the Committee requested Harvard to compile,” Newton said.
Later Tuesday, US Representative Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican and committee chairwoman who issued subpoenas to Harvard last month demanding a range of documents on antisemitism, issued a fresh salvo against the college. She called Harvard’s actions to comply with the demands “shameful.”
“Harvard has absolutely failed to comply in good faith with the committee’s subpoena for information about antisemitism on its campus,” Foxx said in a statement.
“Many of the 2,500 pages submitted to the committee were duplicates of documents already submitted,” she added. “Heavy redactions throughout the production made several documents useless. The committee is weighing an appropriate response to Harvard’s malfeasance.”
Newton said the university “did not double count previously submitted documents in indicating that it has submitted nearly 4,900 total pages to the Committee since January.”
The subpoenaed documents included any internal reports about antisemitic incidents, minutes of board meetings, disciplinary records, and internal communications about a controversial statement signed by Harvard student groups the day of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
The tensions that ensued, including allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia, and intense debates about the limits of political speech, led to the resignations of Claudine Gay, the university’s president who also dealt with plagiarism allegations, and Liz Magill, former head of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Harvard denounced antisemitism on our campus and have made clear that the University will continue to take actions to combat antisemitism in any form,” Newton said on Monday. “This includes ongoing efforts to engage with and learn from students, faculty, and staff to identify the causes of antisemitic behaviors and address them when they occur on our campus. Harvard is focused on safety and ensuring a sense of belonging for our Jewish students — so that every member of our community is protected, embraced and valued, and can thrive at Harvard.”
Harvard’s campus was thrown into turmoil after the Oct. 7 attack, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza has killed more than 30,000 people, Palestinian authorities say.
There is disagreement among Harvard professors and students about the extent of antisemitism on campus.
The committee Foxx leads held the now-infamous Dec. 5 hearing during which the president of MIT and the thenpresidents of UPenn and Harvard were questioned for hours about campus antisemitism and progressive ideology that some conservatives believe have contributed to antiIsrael sentiment.
The campus leaders gave legalistic answers to a question about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates campus rules, which brought criticism from the lawmakers.