Rep. Burgess Owens: We are seeing 'systemic arrogance' from Harvard
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, joins 'Fox & Friends Weekend' to discuss House GOP issuing subpoenas to Harvard leaders for 'failing to produce' sufficient docs in antisemitism probe.
House Republicans have turned up the heat on Harvard, issuing subpoenas to multiple leaders for failing to produce documents as they stand accused of obstructing the House Education and Workforce Committee's investigation into alleged antisemitism that reportedly emerged on campus with the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.
"We're asking for things like minutes for the meetings they're having. Their response to the antisemitism that's going on," Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Fox News on Sunday.
"There are 32 different groups there on campus that are pro-Hamas, and we want to find out what they're doing to make sure these Jewish students are feeling comfortable."
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, attends the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee organizational meeting and hearing titled The State of Transportation Infrastructure and Supply Chain Challenges, in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Owens, who sits on the committee leading the investigation, accused Harvard of exhibiting "systemic arrogance" related to the issue.
"Instead of dealing with issues we'll talk about, they're trying to slow walk, and we finally have a Congress, thank goodness… [who's] not going to put up with [it] anymore," he continued.
"We want answers… so we're going to continue to hold these people accountable."
Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., issued the subpoenas to Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker, Interim President Dr. Alan Garber and Harvard Management Company's Chief Executive Officer N.P. Narvekar last week after the institution failed to provide sufficient documents on two of four priority requests before 5 p.m. on Feb. 14.
US DEPT OF EDUCATION OPENS INVESTIGATION OF HARVARD OVER ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS
People walk through the gate in Harvard Yard at the Harvard University campus on June 29, 2023, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard insists it has provided ‘fulsome and good faith responses across 10 submissions’ in a statement. (Getty Images)
Harvard is now expected to produce 11 key areas of documentation showing what actions the university has taken, or will be taking, to ensure that Jewish students "feel safe and welcome on campus."
"It is my hope that these subpoenas serve as a wakeup call to Harvard that Congress will not tolerate antisemitic hate in its classrooms or on campus," Foxx said.
The requested documents must now be provided by 5 p.m. on March 4.
In a statement, a Harvard spokesperson insisted the institution has "provided fulsome and good faith responses across 10 submissions totaling more than 3,500 pages that directly address key areas of inquiry…"
FETTERMAN SLAMS HARVARD FOR HOSTING PALESTINIAN PROFESSOR WHO BLAMED ISRAEL FOR OCT. 7 HAMAS ATTACKS
Supporters of Palestine gather at Harvard University to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14, 2023. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
Guy Benson, filling in as a guest host Sunday on "Fox & Friends Weekend," asked Owens what the investigation aims to achieve.
"We had the the antisemitism hearings a few months back. After October 7, [we] realized that there is a systemic issue of antsemitism, of hatred, of divisiveness that's going on in college campuses. It's not just Harvard, by the way," he replied.
"There's something called the Marxification of education…. We've been going through this for the last few decades, where Marxists are changing our educational systems to indoctrinate our kids, not to love our country… This is, not being able to think, not being able to have a vision for our future, and this is truly a national security issue, so we're holding all these colleges accountable.
"I want to thank the American people, really, for giving us the opportunity to have the majority that our conference is now. Education is a high priority, and we can finally address these issues."
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Fox News' Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.