Top Republicans Ask Harvard to Detail Plans for Handling Campus Protests in New Semester

Two top House Republicans demanded in a letter on Thursday that Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 provide details on how the University is preparing to respond to large-scale pro-Palestine campus protests during the fall semester.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-Mo.) and House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) asked Harvard’s leadership to provide a list of changes to policies surrounding campus protests and disciplinary proceedings ahead of the new semester.

The letter, sent to Garber and Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 — who leads the University’s highest governing body, sent a clear signal that the Republican-controlled House intends to move forward with its investigations into antisemitism on college campuses.

Similar versions of the letter were sent to the leadership of nine other elite colleges and universities, including MIT, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Smith and Foxx requested that the universities respond by Sept. 5.

Harvard has made a series of policy changes over the summer — including further clarifying protest restrictions, streamlining disciplinary procedures, and committing to not take official stances on controversial political issues — in addition to reversing disciplinary actions taken against pro-Palestine student protesters for their participation in the 20-day encampment.

Smith and Foxx criticized university administrators for their “empty discipline and a lack of enforcement” of campus policies, and asked them to detail how they plan to handle future encampments and unauthorized protests.

“We expect that your institution will be ready, willing, and able to prevent such antisemitic conduct and disruptions that violate campus policies and the law and, when such conduct cannot be prevented, hold those responsible for such conduct accountable with real consequences,” they wrote.

Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain confirmed receipt of the letter.

Swain also pointed to a previous statement about from a University spokesperson that reiterated Harvard’s commitment to “ensuring that all of our students can pursue their intellectual and personal interests, and feel a sense of belonging on campus.”

“Bias or hate in any form will not be tolerated on our campus,” the statement added.

The University’s enforcement of disciplinary policies also played a central role in a judge’s decision earlier this month to reject Harvard’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging “severe and pervasive” campus antisemitism. The judge, who had chosen to dismiss a similar lawsuit against MIT, wrote in a ruling that “the facts as pled show that Harvard failed its Jewish students.”

Following the judge’s ruling, University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that “Harvard is confident that once the facts in this case are made clear, it will be evident that Harvard has acted fairly and with deep concern for supporting our Jewish and Israeli students.”

Garber is currently reviewing and implementing the initial recommendations released by his twin presidential task forces to address antisemitism and anti-Arab bias, including expanding kosher food offerings in University dining halls this semester.

Smith and Foxx both lead committees that are investigating Harvard as part of the House-wide probe into how colleges and universities responded to antisemitism on campus last year.

They also suggested federal funding for Harvard and other peer universities could be at risk, a now-routine threat levied at Harvard since January.

“Colleges and universities receive extraordinary benefits through the tax code and through many forms of federal funding. The American people expect basic accountability in return,” they wrote.

While the House Education and Workforce Committee had subpoenaed Garber and Pritzker over documents relating to discipline, protest, and antisemitism in February, Foxx’s letter on Thursday did not directly reference those subpoenas. Since the investigation into Harvard began in December, the University has provided 47,000 pages of material in 23 submissions to the committee as of July 30.

The same committee also subpoenaed Columbia University’s officials on Wednesday, marking the second subpoena the committee has ever issued to an institution of higher education.

—Staff writer Emma H. Haidar can be reached at emma.haidar@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @HaidarEmma.

—Staff writer Cam E. Kettles can be reached at cam.kettles@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cam_kettles or on Threads @camkettles.