Rep. Virginia Foxx, who is leading a House investigation into campus anti-Semitism, blasted Harvard University on Tuesday for turning over “useless” documents in response to subpoenas.
“I don’t know if it’s arrogance, weakness or indifference that’s driving Harvard,” Rep. Foxx, R-North Carolina, said in a statement. “Regardless, her actions to date are disgraceful.”
Many of the 2,500 pages were duplicates of documents already submitted, he said, and heavy redactions rendered some documents useless.
Harvard said it is acting in good faith and since January has turned over nearly 4,900 pages of material to the House Education and Workforce Committee, not including duplicate material.
The university also released a four-page document detailing how it has combated anti-Semitism on campus, including more policing of social media and stricter enforcement of protest rules. This overview was the only part of the submission that Harvard made public. the commission did not release any of the material.
“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,” said Jason Newton, a spokesman.
In early February, after Harvard’s first round of submissions, spokesman Foxx faulted it for a “limited and expansive” response. The university, he said, had turned over letters from nonprofits and copies of publicly available student handbooks.
Subpoenas soon followed, seeking “all minutes and/or summaries of Harvard Corporation meetings, formal or informal, beginning January 1, 2021,” among many other documents.
With Harvard and the House at loggerheads, it’s unclear what the implications could be. “The committee is considering an appropriate response to Harvard’s injustice,” Foxx said in a statement.
The committee was already in uncharted territory. Harvard is the first university to be served with a subpoena by the Education and Workforce Committee since it was founded in 1867, according to Nick Barley, a spokesman for the committee.
The confrontation is perhaps just the most visible example of the divisions that have prevailed on campus since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel, with many Jewish students, alumni and donors saying Harvard did not do enough to protect students from anti-Semitic slogans, messages and campus protests.
Other universities have also struggled with the challenges of responding to Hamas attacks and the growing death toll and hunger in Gaza as the war continues and college campuses become the site of violent protests by pro-Palestinian students and some faculty.
Rep. Foxx also announced investigations into anti-Semitism at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and MIT
