Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) have sent a letter to Dr. Alan Garber, President of Harvard University, seeking information regarding recent incidents and partnerships at the university that they say have contributed to an antisemitic environment on campus.
In their letter, Walberg and Stefanik wrote: “Harvard does not appear to have disciplined—and instead has rewarded—two students who assaulted an Israeli Jewish student who was filming a ‘die-in’ protest on October 18, 2023. Following the attack, Harvard said that it would ‘address the incident through its student disciplinary procedures’ after law enforcement completed its investigations… To make matters worse, in April of this year, one of the attackers received a $65,000 fellowship through the Harvard Law Review to work at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a group that even the Biden-Harris administration disavowed due to its virulent antisemitism.”
The lawmakers also raised concerns about Harvard’s ongoing relationship with Birzeit University. They noted: “Harvard was reportedly due, by the end of spring 2025, to announce whether it would permanently end its partnership with Birzeit University, an institution whose student body overwhelmingly supports Hamas. The Committee is concerned that Harvard has not made its decision, if any, public. In a January 2024 email, you expressed resistance to the idea of ending the partnership, stating that ‘if the big issue is that Hamas is popular on the Birzeit campus … were we to shut down the program on that basis, we’d give ammunition to [Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS)] advocates.’ Refusing to partner with a university that explicitly endorses a U.S. designated terrorist organization is entirely different than the BDS movement, which boycotts the only democracy in the Middle East because it is Jewish.”
The letter requests detailed records from Harvard related to antisemitism complaints and responses. Specifically mentioned are documents about complaints filed for antisemitism or related discrimination or harassment; records about an assault in October 2023; materials connected with reports from working groups focused on antisemitism; documentation regarding reviews of partnerships such as with Birzeit University; curriculum changes linked to antisemitism concerns; action plans from presidential task forces; and any relevant material from Harvard’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion office.
