The House committee investigating alleged antisemitism at elite universities will subpoena Harvard University for documents relating to its handling of campus speech.
The Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced its decision—which marks the first time a university has been served with a subpoena in the panel’s history—Friday morning in statement. It said subpoenas were necessary because Harvard failed to hand over “priority documents” to the committee, instead providing many that were already public.
“Harvard has touted its willingness to work with the Committee, citing the thousands of pages of documents it has produced. But, of the 2,516 pages of documents Harvard has produced,” committee chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) wrote, “at least 1,032––over 40 percent––were already publicly available. Quality––not quantity––is the committee’s concern.”
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Foxx said she warned Harvard that the committee would issue a subpoena if the university “continued to miss the mark.” Most recently, Foxx alleges Harvard handed over documents “including apparent omissions and questionable redactions.”
The congressional committee said that subpoenas would be served to Harvard’s interim president and two other influential figures who manage Harvard’s endowment and governance.
The probe is part of a larger congressional investigation into how universities handled expressions of pro-Palestinian speech after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and ensuing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The universities argue that it falls under protected free speech, while some members of Congress say it constitutes antisemitic hate. The committee is also investigating the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia and M.I.T., although Harvard is the first to receive a subpoena.
Harvard has already been at the center of a firestorm over pro-Palestinian speech. In a heated December hearing, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) grilled three college presidents over their handling of pro-Palestinian slogans like “From the river to the sea,” which she insisted was a “call for genocide.” Two of the three presidents, including Harvard’s own Claudine Gay, resigned in the din of public backlash. Harvard has also been sued by its own students over its alleged failure to punish “rampant” antisemitism.
