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Friday, September 20, 2024

Lawmakers question Harvard's handling of assault investigation involving Jewish student

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U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik representing New York's 21st Congressional District | Official U.S. House headshot

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik representing New York's 21st Congressional District | Official U.S. House headshot

On September 18, 2024, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) addressed a letter to Harvard University President Dr. Alan Garber. The letter expressed concerns over allegations that Harvard obstructed the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office from investigating an assault against a Jewish student on its campus.

The lawmakers highlighted in their letter: “As you well know, as a result of worldwide attention to this matter and from previous letters from the Education and the Workforce Committee (Committee), on October 18, 2023, Harvard’s Palestine Solidarity Committee staged a ‘die-in’ at Harvard Business School where students protested Israel’s efforts to defend itself following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks. During this event, an Israeli-American Harvard Business School student was physically assaulted and harassed by a group of protesters that included fellow Harvard students. The attack was recorded from multiple angles, as well as reported to a variety of Harvard administrators repeatedly by the student. Furthermore, although two of the primary assailants were identified as current Harvard students, Harvard has yet to take any serious disciplinary action against the students.”

The letter continued: “Harvard is shielding those who physically assaulted a Jewish student on Harvard’s campus by preventing a state prosecutor from moving forward with the state’s investigation. In all our years of public service, we have never encountered a situation in which a law enforcement agency has affirmatively refused to cooperate with a prosecutor’s investigation—much less done so in such an open and brazen manner. Yet, that is precisely the situation we have here.”

The letter also requested documents related to Harvard's decision not to cooperate with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office as part of an ongoing investigation into antisemitism at Harvard University conducted by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Read the full letter [HERE](https://stefanik.house.gov/2024/9/stefanik-foxx-demand-answers-on-harvard-s-interference-with-suffolk-county-district-attorney-s-investigation-into-assault-against-jewish-student).

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