House demands UPenn turn over trove of documents in antisemitism investigation
By Matt Egan, CNN
New York (CNN) — A House committee sent a letter to the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday demanding the school turn over documents related to an investigation into antisemitism on campus.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, the Republican chairwoman of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, is requesting that UPenn respond to the document request by no later than February 7.
The committee is seeking a wide range of documents, including reports of antisemitic activity on campus since early 2021; how UPenn responds to hate crimes; disciplinary actions against staff and students related to alleged targeting of Jews; documents and financial information linked to a Palestinian literature festival held on campus last year; and information on foreign donations, including donations from Qatar.
“We have grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of Penn’s response to antisemitism on its campus,” Foxx wrote in the letter to Larry Jameson, UPenn’s interim president, and Ramanan Raghavendran, the chair of the board of trustees.
Lawmakers launched a formal investigation into UPenn, Harvard University and MIT last month following disastrous testimony about antisemitism from the leaders of the three schools.
Liz Magill stepped down last month as UPenn’s president in the wake of her testimony on Capitol Hill. Scott Bok, the chair of the board of trustees, also stepped down.
A UPenn spokesperson told CNN in a statement that the university has received the document request and “will respond after we complete a review of the request.”
Foxx slammed Harvard on Tuesday evening for an “unacceptable” response to the committee’s document request and suggested lawmakers could issue a subpoena if the university does not comply.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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