WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) issued the following statement regarding serving subpoenas to Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker, Interim President Dr. Alan Garber, and Harvard Management Company’s Chief Executive Officer N.P. Narvekar for failing to produce priority documents related to the Committee’s antisemitism investigation:
“I am extremely disappointed in the path that Harvard has chosen to take in the Committee’s investigation. Over the course of this investigation, 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 in response to the Committee’s antisemitism inquiry to date, at least 1,032—over 40 percent—were already publicly available. Quality—not quantity—is the Committee’s concern.
“Last week, I made it very clear to Harvard that the documents it had produced up to that point were severely insufficient. I warned that a subpoena would be warranted if the university continued to miss the mark, giving it ample opportunity to correct course before compulsory measures were taken. Unfortunately, Harvard did not heed the Committee’s warning and once again failed to satisfy the Committee’s requests. In its most recent response, Harvard failed to make substantial productions on two of four priority requests and its productions on the remaining two priority requests contain notable deficiencies, including apparent omissions and questionable redactions.
“Harvard’s continued failure to satisfy the Committee’s requests is unacceptable. I will not tolerate delay and defiance of our investigation while Harvard’s Jewish students continue to endure the firestorm of antisemitism that has engulfed its campus. If Harvard is truly committed to combating antisemitism, it has had every opportunity to demonstrate its commitment with actions, not words.
“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.”
In cover letters accompanying the subpoenas, Foxx writes: “Harvard has repeatedly failed to satisfy the Committee’s requests within a reasonable timeframe, despite being afforded several accommodations, including being given the opportunity to submit productions on a rolling basis, being offered multiple deadline extensions, and having priority documents identified by the Committee. … Given Harvard’s failure to satisfy the document requests delineated in the February 7 letter, and to avoid any further delay in its investigation, the Committee must now compel production of all responsive documents.”
To read the Pritzker cover letter and subpoena, click here.
To read the Garber cover letter and subpoena, click here.
To read the Narvekar cover letter and subpoena, click here.
Background:
December 20, 2023: The Committee informed Harvard of its intent to move forward with an investigation of antisemitic incidents at the school. For Harvard’s benefit, this communication included an extensive list of documents that the Committee intended to request.
January 9, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx sent a letter to Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker and Interim President Dr. Alan Garber requesting documents and information regarding Harvard University’s response to antisemitism on its campus and its failure to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff.
January 23, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx issued a statement calling Harvard’s initial production of documents related to the Committee’s antisemitism investigation “woefully inadequate.” Harvard produced 24 documents to the Committee totaling 1032 pages—including letters from nonprofits and copies of student handbooks—all of which were already publicly available. Some of the documents sent to the Committee included inexplicable redactions of information that were included in the public versions.
February 7, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx sent a final warning to Pritzker and Garber reaffirming her intent to issue a subpoena if Harvard did not provide priority documents by Wednesday, February 14, 2024, at 5:00PM.
February 16, 2024: Chairwoman Foxx sent a subpoena requiring Harvard to produce 11 key areas of documentation that are intended to uncover what actions Harvard is undertaking or has undertaken to ensure Harvard Jewish students feel safe and welcome on campus.
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