House Education panel subpoenas Harvard leaders in antisemitism probe

The House Education Committee announced subpoenas against Harvard University’s leadership Friday, saying the school has failed produce documents needed in the panel’s antisemitism probe. 

The subpoenas against Harvard Corp. Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker, interim President Alan Garber and Harvard Management Co. CEO N.P. Narvekar are the first ever to be given by the House to a university.

Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) argues the escalation was necessary because out of the more than 2,500 documents the school has turned over, few satisfy a previous documents request. 

“I am extremely disappointed in the path that Harvard has chosen to take in the Committee’s investigation,” Foxx said in a statement, pointing out that more than 40 percent of the documents produced were already publicly available. “Quality—not quantity—is the Committee’s concern.”

The committee is seeking documents from Pritzker and Garber regarding antisemitic actions on campus since 2021, documents from the task force against antisemitism that was created after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the meeting minutes since 2021 from the Harvard Corp. and its board. Narvekar is tasked with providing the meeting minutes for the Harvard Management Co. from Oct. 7, 2023, to Jan. 2 of this year.

Harvard has until March 4 to produce the documents.

Harvard has been a top target of lawmakers since the rise of antisemitism on college campuses since the fighting between Israel and Hamas begun.

“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,” Foxx said.

The Ivy League school argues it has complied with the committee and provided ample documents requested.

“While subpoenas were unwarranted, Harvard remains committed to cooperating with the Committee and will continue to provide additional materials, while protecting the legitimate privacy, safety and security concerns of our community,” a spokesperson said.  

“Antisemitism has no place in the Harvard community. We remain steadfast in our commitment to combating antisemitism, in whatever form it manifests itself and our ongoing efforts to ensure that Jewish students feel safe, valued, and embraced at Harvard,” they added.