WASHINGTON – In a new letter to Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Director Renee Wegrzyn, the House Education and the Workforce Committee (E&W) and House Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) request information on how ARPA-H is ensuring that institutions and individuals involved in the research projects it funds comply with Title VI to ensure a harassment and discrimination-free environment.
This letter comes after a rise in antisemitism on college and university campuses, including Columbia University and the University of California, San Francisco where ARPA-H currently funds research. It is signed by E&W Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC), E&W Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development Chair Burgess Owens (R-UT), E&C Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), E&C Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and E&C Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA).
KEY EXCERPT:
“Due to ongoing reports of antisemitism across colleges and universities, federal and congressional investigations into potential civil rights violations at these institutions, and an ongoing congressional investigation into HHS’s and NIH’s handling of these concerns at HHS-funded institutions, the Committees are seeking more information about how ARPA-H ensures that those involved in projects it funds comply with Title VI and relevant civil rights laws to ensure a research environment free of harassment and discrimination, especially towards those of Jewish faith and heritage.”
BACKGROUND:
ARPA-H is an independent agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
ARPA-H reports directly to the Secretary of HHS.
In the last year, ARPA-H has funded more than $595 million in research projects through ISOs and BAA with more than $506 million going to universities and research institutions and the rest to companies or organizations. Some of these research projects include:
August 30, 2024: Up to $39.5 million to Columbia University
August 22, 2024: Up to $7 million to the University of Pennsylvania
August 13, 2024: Up to $18.4 million to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
July 10, 2024: Up to $27 million to the Wyss Institute at Harvard University
June 12, 2024: Up to $24 million to Yale University School of Medicine
April 1, 2024: Up to $35 million to the University of California, San Francisco
September 26, 2023: Up to $104 million to Harvard Medical School
September 25, 2023: Up to $26 million to Stanford University
Of the fourteen university-based projects ARPA-H funded in the last year, eleven (including the eight listed above) are at universities that were recently or are currently under federal and/or congressional investigation for potential Title VI violations and/or are being sued in federal court for permitting antisemitic behavior on campus.
Columbia University has been sued in federal court, is currently undergoing several investigations by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, and is undergoing investigation by congressional committees, for complaints of antisemitism.
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is currently investigating the University of California, San Francisco regarding concerns of antisemitism at the university, medical school, and associated medical centers.
The U.S. Department of Education recently closed its investigation into the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign with a resolution agreement that found the university was not meeting its obligation under Title VI as it relates to complaints of shared ancestry discrimination—including 135 complaints of anti-Jewish discrimination.
