Columbia University could be hit with a subpoena if it doesn’t dish details on disciplinary cases, as part of a U.S. House investigation into antisemitism on college campuses.
Republican-led House Education Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) sent a letter to President Minouche Shafik and the Board of Trustees on Thursday, warning she was ready to issue the orders if university officials don’t share information the committee has requested by August 8.
“Columbia’s continued failure to produce these priority items is unacceptable,” she wrote, “and if this is not promptly rectified, the Committee is prepared to compel their production.”
Foxx said in the letter that Columbia has “explicitly refused” to produce a list of disciplinary cases as requested by the Committee, though she conceded the university turned over communications to students about their records.
But to the lawmaker, the messages — which totaled 64 pages — were insufficient, leaving unclear whether students are currently suspended or not. On Thursday, she reiterated a request for the dates, descriptions, and schools of each incident, as well as the case statuses, disciplinary actions, and standings of each student.
She made the same request for all faculty and staff facing discipline related to antisemitism.
“A list of cases also would allow the Committee to understand how the University has responded over time when students have committed multiple conduct violations,” she said.
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Rep. Virginia Foxx sent a letter to Columbia President Minouche Shafik on Thursday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Other requests — which Foxx described as “critical to the investigation” — include communications between members of the Board of Trustees and records of their meetings, and the calendars of top administrators during the pro-Palestinian encampment last spring. In many cases, she added, materials were requested months ago.
In an interview with NPR, Foxx said the committee has rarely issued subpoenas, and her hope is that Columbia’s lawyers “will explain to them that we are due these documents” because of the lawmaking body’s oversight powers.
“We have received the Chairwoman’s letter, and we are reviewing it. We are committed to combatting antisemitism and all forms of hate,” read a statement from the university.
The House Education Committee first launched its investigation into Columbia in February, summoning Shafik to testify a couple of months later on her handling of allegations of campus antisemitism.
While she and other top officials were in Washington, D.C., pro-Palestinian protesters were setting up an encampment, which would spark a national wave of college protests to divest from Israel over its war in Gaza.
