A congressional committee investigating campus antisemitism took the unprecedented step of issuing multiple subpoenas to Harvard University on Friday, compelling the Ivy League school to turn over documents lawmakers are seeking.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said she decided to follow through on her subpoena threat because Harvard’s alleged failure to produce documents suggests the university is “obstructing” the committee’s investigation.
“It is my hope that these subpoenas serve as a wakeup call to Harvard that Congress will not tolerate antisemitic hate in its classrooms or on campus,” Foxx said in a statement.
This marks the first time the education committee has ever issued a subpoena since the panel was founded in March 1867, committee spokesperson Nick Barley told CNN. (At the time, it was known as the Committee on Education and Labor.)
Three different Harvard officials are being subpoenaed: Alan Garber, Harvard’s interim president; Penny Pritzker, the billionaire leader of the Harvard Corporation, the governing board of the school; and N.P. Narvekar, CEO of the Harvard Management Company.
The subpoenas order the Harvard officials to produce a series of documents by 5 pm ET on March 4.
In a cover letter sent to Harvard officials, Foxx wrote that the “evidence suggests that the school is obstructing this investigation and is willing to tolerate the proliferation of antisemitism on its campus.”
Foxx had delivered a final warning last week to Harvard to submit a narrowed list of high-priority documents by February 14 or face a subpoena. That list included meeting minutes since Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks on Israel and communications by university officials related to antisemitism.
Although Harvard did produce documents by the February 14 deadline, Foxx said the university “failed to make substantial productions on two of four priority requests.” The documents Harvard turned over on the other two priority requests “contain notable deficiencies, including apparent omissions and questionable redactions.”
Foxx said that out of the 2,516 pages Harvard has produced, more than 40% were publicly available.
In response, Harvard spokesperson Jonathan Swain said in a statement that the university provided “fulsome and good faith responses” across 10 submissions totaling more than 3,500 pages, directly addressing the committee’s inquiry.
“Given the breadth and extensive nature of the information Harvard has provided to the Committee, it is unfortunate that the Committee has chosen to issue subpoenas,” Swain said.
The spokesperson added that even though the subpoenas were “unwarranted,” the university is committed to cooperating and would continue to provide additional materials.
It’s unclear if Harvard will fight the subpoenas in court.
Harvard declined to comment on that question, though Swain did say the university’s cooperation would include “protecting the legitimate privacy, safety and security concerns of our community.”
“Antisemitism has no place in the Harvard community,” Swain said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to combating antisemitism, in whatever form it manifests itself, and (in) our ongoing efforts to ensure that Jewish students feel safe, valued, and embraced at Harvard.”
The subpoena from Foxx requires Harvard to produce documents in 11 key areas by March 4 that she says would shed light on what steps Harvard is taking and previously took to keep Jewish students safe.
The documents covered by the subpoena include reports of antisemitic acts since early 2021, communications related to disciplinary action related to conduct involving antisemitism, all documents and communications involving top Harvard officials relating to antisemitism, all meeting minutes since early 2021 from Harvard’s top boards and communications related to an anti-Israel letter signed by student groups in October.
“Harvard’s continued failure to satisfy the committee’s request is unacceptable,” Foxx said in the statement. “I will not tolerate delay and defiance of our investigation while Harvard’s Jewish students continue to endure the firestorm of antisemitism.”
