Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Evan Schneider/U.N. Photo
A view of protesters demonstrating outside the campus of Columbia University in New York City, April 22, 2024
(JNS) — After “continued failure” to provide priority documents about Jew-hatred to the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Columbia University has a week to do so before the committee issues subpoenas, according to Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the committee chair.
In a letter to the Columbia president and the co-chairs of the university board, Foxx noted that the committee began investigating the school in February, and requested documents that month and in every subsequent one since.
“On July 9, committee staff communicated to Columbia the committee’s concern over the ‘unsatisfactory and limited nature of Columbia’s production, including Columbia’s ongoing failure to produce documents from long-requested custodians,’” Foxx wrote. Among other issues, “Columbia filled much of its production with documents of limited value, with 1,780 pages consisting of lists of signatories to a publicly available petition, for example,” she added.
“The documents and communications requested by the committee are necessary to understand Columbia’s response to antisemitism and inform the committee’s consideration of potential legislation concerning antisemitism at postsecondary institutions,” Foxx wrote.
She gave Columbia until noon Eastern time on Aug. 8 to provide the requested documents. “If this is not promptly rectified, the committee is prepared to compel their production,” she wrote.
A Columbia spokesperson told JNS that the university received Foxx’s letter and is reviewing it. “We are committed to combating antisemitism and all forms of hate,” the spokesperson said.
