JEWS: House committee subpoenas Columbia in antisemitism probe

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Gabrielle Temaat – Assistant Editor •August 22, 2024
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Columbia must provide documents related to antisemitism by Sept. 4

The House Education and the Workforce Committee subpoenaed Columbia University Wednesday for documents it seeks in an antisemitism investigation.

The committee’s requests include “messages, Board of Trustees minutes, notes, summaries, and recordings regarding antisemitism or Israel, and other documents regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict by students, faculty, and staff since Oct. 7,” the Washington Examiner reported.

Columbia received a warning from the committee on Aug. 1 that the school would be subpoenaed if it failed to cooperate with the investigation, according to the Washington Examiner. The subpoena orders the school to provide the necessary documents by Sept. 4.

“Columbia should be a partner in our efforts to ensure Jewish students have a safe learning environment on its campus, but instead, university administrators have slow rolled the investigation, repeatedly failing to turn over necessary documents,” Rep. Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said in a statement, according to the Washington Examiner.

“The information we have obtained points to a continued pattern of negligence towards antisemitism and a refusal to stand up to the radical students and faculty responsible for it,” she stated.

She also stated the committee aims “to protect Jewish students and faculty, and if compulsory measures are necessary to obtain the documents…so be it.”

Foxx issued a letter detailing the information the committee requested and the school’s lack of responsiveness. The letter reads:

On April 26, following the establishment of the so-called Gaza Solidarity Encampment, which by Columbia’s own admission created a hostile environment in violation of Title VI, the Committee sent Columbia an updated set of priority requests. The Committee identified three categories of materials as its top priorities: communications from specified custodians; Board of Trustees meeting minutes, notes, and summaries; and information on disciplinary cases relating to the encampment or from the period since the establishment of the encampment…Despite the Committee’s numerous efforts to identify its priorities, Columbia has failed to satisfy these requests.

The subpoena is part of an ongoing investigation into the school’s handling of anti-Israel protests, as previously reported by The College Fix. The school has seen some of the most disruptive anti-Israel demonstrations in the nation, leading to hundreds of student arrests. Further, four Columbia administrators were involved in a series of texts mocking Jewish leaders and students.

The university’s president, Minouche Shafik, resigned from her position this month following these events. Foxx stated “she is hopeful the school’s new leadership will be more responsive,” according to the Washington Examiner.

Source: https://www.thecollegefix.com/house-committee-subpoenas-columbia-in-antisemitism-probe/