Congress demands records from Penn on school’s ‘abysmal’ handling of antisemitism

A congressional committee investigating the University of Pennsylvania’s handling of antisemitism sent a 14-page letter to the school’s board and interim president Wednesday, requesting a massive amount of information detailing the university’s response to antisemitic incidents on campus.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workplace, wrote in the letter that the committee seeks “all reports of antisemitic acts or incidents and related documents and communication since January 2021.” The committee also asked for wider reaching information related to financial settlements, ongoing investigations, Jewish enrollment numbers, and information on foreign donors to the university.

The letter is the first correspondence between Penn and the committee since it launched its investigation in December. It comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have stepped up calls to combat antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and as protests over mounting casualties in Gaza during Israel’s offensive have made universities the centers of roiling debate around freedom of expression, hate speech, and the Israel-Hamas war.

The letter specifies the request pertains to nearly every relevant office at Penn from the president and general counsel to the office of student affairs, and extends to Penn faculty, staff, students, and board members. The type of communication sought includes formal reports as well as texts and emails. The committee asked the documents be provided by Feb. 7.

A Penn spokesperson said in a brief statement that the school had received the request and would respond after completing a review of it.

And while the committee’s stated intent is to make sure learning environments are safe for students and that universities are abiding by the law, the breadth of the inquiry is far-reaching.

“We have grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of Penn’s response to antisemitism on its campus,” Foxx wrote, later adding that “an environment of pervasive antisemitism has been documented at Penn dating back to well before the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.”

The investigation sprung out of a highly publicized hearing Dec. 5, during which then-Penn President Liz Magill and presidents from Harvard and MIT struggled to articulate what is considered hate speech within the schools’ codes of conduct. At one point, Magill was asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate the code of conduct and she responded that it would be “case dependent.”

Magill faced immediate backlash for the answer, which she walked back following her testimony. She resigned four days after her testimony as did Board of Trustees chair Scott L. Bok.

While the committee is only just beginning its investigation, Foxx’s letter was already a full-throated rebuke of the university. She called the school’s response to incidents “abysmal,” claiming the university’s “institutional failures regarding antisemitism extend well beyond two leaders.”

She quoted Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who stated in December that Penn’s leaders “have seemingly failed every step of the way to take concrete action to make sure all students feel safe on campus.”

The letter lays out more than a dozen alleged incidents of antisemitism on campus, including the school’s inclusion of controversial speakers at the Palestine Writer’s festival, threatening emails sent to staff members at Penn Hillel, and vandalism at the center and around campus.

The letter names Penn faculty accused of making antisemitic remarks and statements of support for Hamas during protests on campus that called for a cease-fire.

Some of the incidents were previously made public and others are newly reported in the letter. The committee had put out a call for people with information about antisemitism at any campuses to report them by email.

The letter also noted the drop in Penn’s undergraduate Jewish student population from about 25% (or 2,500 students) in 2013 to 16.4% last year.

The committee has said its intent is to root out antisemitism and ensure that universities are safe and following the law, particularly the First Amendment, which broadly protects inflammatory speech at public universities — except when it becomes abusive or violent — and Title VI, which applies to both public and private universities receiving federal funds and prohibits discrimination based on “race, color, or national origin.”

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights already investigates claims of antisemitism and is simultaneously conducting its own investigation into more than 20 universities over the issue.

Given the far-reaching scope of the probe, Risa L. Lieberwitz, a labor professor at Cornell University, previously dismissed it as “political theater.”

“There have been Title VI investigations, Title IX investigations, complaints filed with appropriate agencies for investigations to take place. Those structures are already in place, so any sort of investigation by Congress in this way really just seems to be fishing for political ends,” Lieberwitz, who is also general counsel for American Association of University Professors (AAUP), said last month.

Republicans have increasingly attacked elite institutions’ “woke” policies in recent years, alleging an inconsistent application of free speech regulations depending on political ideology.

In her letter, Foxx accused the school of inconsistent adherence to the First Amendment.

“In defense of this disgraceful record, Penn has cited its supposed commitment to free speech,” Foxx wrote. “In former President Magill’s words, Penn claims that it is ‘guided by the United States Constitution,’ which limits it from taking action against antisemitism on its campus.”

“However,” Foxx added. “Penn has demonstrated a clear double standard by tolerating antisemitic vandalism, harassment, and intimidation, but suppressing and penalizing other expression it deemed problematic.”

The investigation could result in recommendations to the schools or in a proposal for legislation.

Although Penn, Harvard, and MIT are private institutions, they still receive federal money. The committee could require them to come into compliance with federal laws in order to continue receiving funding.

Penn has faced other backlash for the hearing recently. Last month the Pennsylvania House voted to withhold $31 million in funding from Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine due to legislators’ concerns about antisemitism.