EXCLUSIVE — House Republicans are requesting extensive information from top-ranked universities, including on foreign funding, as part of their investigation into campus antisemitism.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) is scrutinizing the tax-exempt statuses of Harvard University, Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — and the potential for foreign money to have influenced the schools’ lackluster responses to antisemitism on campus, according to letters sent Thursday to the schools and obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“The culture of antisemitism that has been allowed to flourish on the campuses of elite American universities is absolutely appalling,” Smith told the Washington Examiner. “The Ways and Means Committee is determined to uncover the motives behind their continued failure to protect Jewish students on campus in the wake of Oct. 7, as well as whether they have taken appropriate action to discipline students, administrators, and student groups who have violated campus policy.”
The letters, sent by the committee to the schools’ presidents, come as universities across the country have seen a dramatic increase in antisemitic activity since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel. More than 1,200 Israelis were massacred in the Jewish state.
“These antisemitic outbursts did not arise from new opinions developed in a matter of hours or days after the Hamas attacks,” the committee wrote in letters to all four schools. “But these eruptions did reveal a culture of antisemitism that developed and grew beneath the surface for decades.”
Smith is requesting a wide range of information from the schools, including records of disciplinary action against students and administrators violating school policy on antisemitism, insight into why campus culture became antisemitic, free speech policies, foreign donations or funding, and money and programming related to diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology.
That information is necessary for “justifying the generous tax-exempt status that the American people have provided institutions like yours for decades,” the committee wrote in the letters.
“Congress and the American people are right to question whether these institutions are deserving of lucrative federal tax benefits unless serious change is implemented,” Smith told the Washington Examiner. “We will continue to demand accountability for these elite, out-of-touch institutions who have neglected to uphold their educational purpose.”
Each school had unique incidents that prompted the Ways and Means Committee to target them in its inquiry.
The letter to MIT president Sally Kornbluth noted a promise to expel students who engaged in unsanctioned protest that the school rescinded after hearing “serious concerns about collateral consequences for the students, such as visa issues” — a move Smith said calls into question the school’s willingness to “fairly and consistently punish students that violate its policies and create a hostile environment for Jewish students on campus.”
The Missouri Republican also drew a parallel between MIT inviting Dalia Mogahed, whom the letter states “previously justified Hamas’ attacks,” to give a presentation titled “Islamophobia: A Threat to All,” while declining a talk from diplomat Dennis Ross, who has been involved with Middle-East peace negotiations in Democrat and Republican administrations.
According to the letter, MIT rejected Ross’s discussion as being “political” despite Mogahed being an appointee in the Obama administration.
Harvard has had a scandal-ridden last several months after now-ousted president Claudine Gay gave controversial testimony on antisemitism before the House last year, and then was caught having allegedly plagiarized large portions of her academic work. The school is also being investigated by the House Education and Workforce Committee, which recently subpoenaed Harvard because it said the university did not comply with the initial inquiry.
Smith’s letter focused on multiple problems of Harvard, particularly its beleaguered antisemitism task force, which has faced criticism since its commission by interim Harvard president Alan Garber.
Some criticism comes from the controversial appointment of Jewish history professor Derek Penslar, who had signed a letter prior to his appointment describing Israel as an “apartheid regime,” as co-chair of the group. Smith’s letter also mentioned Gay’s testimony, criticism from former Harvard president Larry Summers and the Anti-Defamation League, multiple resignations from the task force, and antisemitic vandalism on campus.
The letter to Cornell president Martha Pollack noted a U.S. Department of Education antisemitism investigation into the school, as well as a DEI infrastructure “that may be contributing to a concerning campus culture,” and continuing antisemitic incidents and disruptive protests on campus.
Interim UPenn president J. Larry Jameson received a similar letter, detailing multiple pro-Palestinian protests on campus, which blocked entryways to buildings and disrupted meetings. According to the letter, individuals who do not have affiliation with the school have led the marches. UPenn declined to comment.
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Smith is asking schools to respond to the letters by April 4.
The Washington Examiner reached out to MIT, Harvard, and Cornell for comment.