The GOP-led House is investigating Harvard University’s resistance to comply with civil rights laws.
Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., chairwoman of House Republican Leadership, announced the probe Wednesday due to “Harvard’s potentially improper use of federal funds.”
The two lawmakers sent a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber requesting documents and communications to aid the investigation. They also reserved the right to request transcribed interviews with university employees.
“The Committee requests documents and communications to inform its oversight of this matter, and to determine whether legislation is necessary to ensure that institutions of higher education receiving federal financial assistance are no longer able to violate the law while lucratively benefiting from the generosity of the American people,” Comer and Stefanik wrote.
The lawmakers pointed out that Harvard received “federal funding of $686 million [that] made up approximately 68% of total sponsored revenue” despite a “massive $53.2 billion endowment [that] provided $2.4 billion in total revenue for its 2024 fiscal year.
“Even as Harvard is apparently preparing to reject all federal financial assistance so it can avoid complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Harvard has received enormous sums from foreign sources, including from authoritarian governments,” the lawmakers wrote.