House demands mountain of documents from Harvard in antisemitism investigation

By Matt Egan, CNN

New York (CNN) — Lawmakers investigating Harvard University’s response to antisemitism are demanding the Ivy League school turn over a treasure trove of documents in two weeks.

In a letter on Tuesday to Harvard leaders, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for the first time detailed the mountain of documents lawmakers are seeking to aid the probe launched last month. The Wall Street Journal first reported the letter.

The wide-ranging request lists 24 separate categories of documents it wants Harvard to produce, including all reports of antisemitic incidents and related reports since January 1, 2021; documents on how the university responds to such incidents; settlements by Harvard in response to discrimination, harassment or free speech violations since January 1, 2018; communications linked to Harvard’s response to the October anti-Israel student organization letter; and all meeting minutes for Harvard’s top two boards since early 2021.

The nine-page letter also asks Harvard to provide documents on how much in foreign donations and funding the university receives; a list of all foreign donations above $50,000 since early 2021; and all donations from Qatari sources since early 2021.

Lawmakers also want Harvard to provide information on the “size, budget, agenda and performance metrics” of the university’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging.

The House Education Committee set a deadline of 5 pm ET on January 23 for the documents and said the request extends to “any informal communications” including text or other electronic messages.

The document request shows how Harvard remains under intense pressure from lawmakers, especially House Republicans, even after Claudine Gay stepped down last week as president.

“Harvard’s institutional failures regarding antisemitism extend well beyond one leader,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, the Republican chair of the committee, wrote in the letter sent to Harvard interim president Alan Garber and Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker.

“We have grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of Harvard’s response to antisemitism on its campus,” Foxx wrote.

Foxx’s committee is also still investigating how Harvard handled the plagiarism controversy surrounding Gay and has requested a laundry list of documents on that matter as well.

“The University is reviewing Chairwoman Foxx’s letter and will be in touch with the Committee regarding their request,” a Harvard spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.

Facing pressure from lawmakers and some prominent donors, particularly after her disastrous testimony before the Education committee a month ago, Gay announced last fall an antisemitism advisory group to help begin the “vital work of eradicating antisemitism from our community.”

Gay said Harvard is examining how antisemitism “manifests within our community,” launching an education program and training for students and staff and making students aware of an anonymous reporting hotline and other ways to report incidents.

“Antisemitism has no place at Harvard,” Gay said in November. “While confronting any form of hatred is daunting, the challenges we face tackling antisemitism are made all the more so by its pernicious nature and deep historical roots.

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