Congressional Probe Into Campus Antisemitism Will Continue Even After Series Of Resignations, Committee Chair Says

A congressional probe into antisemitism on the campuses of several elite universities by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce will continue despite two of the universities’ presidents resigning, according to committee chair Virginia Foxx.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) President Liz Magill resigned from their positions following a Dec. 5 Education and the Workforce Committee hearing where both presidents, as well as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Sally Kornbluth, refused to say if calling for the genocide of Jews violated the universities’ codes of conduct. Foxx spoke in front of several reporters at the Capitol and said the investigation into Harvard, UPenn and MIT initiated after the hearing will not stop despite the resignations.

“It was the right thing to do, but it’s not going to end our investigation,” Foxx said, according to Politico.

The committee will investigate “many schools in terms of how they are handling antisemitism, DEI and where is their focus these days,” Foxx said in reference to diversity, equity and inclusion policies and programs that Republicans have criticized, according to Politico.

The probe into the three elite universities was expanded to include Gay’s plagiarism allegations after a third set of accusations against her Dec. 19. Gay submitted multiple rounds of corrections to her scholarly works following the accusations but endured another round of allegations Monday.

Gay announced her resignation on Tuesday.

Over 30 student organizations at Harvard penned a pro-Palestinian letter in October blaming Israel for the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, causing backlash. Gay released a statement later in the month saying that the students had a “right to speak” but did not speak for the university.

Magill didn’t refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization until after a prominent billionaire donor, Jon Huntsman Jr., said his family would no longer donate to the university. Several antisemitic threats on campus to UPenn staff resulted in the university contacting the FBI to investigate the threats.

Kornbluth is the last of the three presidents standing, and after Gay’s resignation Tuesday, several commentators called on her to resign as well.