Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday announced a subpoena against Harvard University President Alan Garber over alleged coordination with other Ivy League schools over tuition increases.
The subpoena, the GOP lawmakers say, is due to a lack of documents turned over by Harvard regarding its investigation into if the university and other Ivy Leagues engaged in price discrimination by working together to raise tuition prices and change financial aid packages.
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The members want turned over documents and communications among Harvard and the other schools, communications with the College Board and documents relating to requirements to have students purchase on-campus meal plans and housing, among other things.
“Now seventy-nine days following the Committee’s initial April 8 requests, and despite the Committee’s best efforts at accommodating Harvard, Harvard’s response has been inadequate. Accordingly, the Committee is issuing compulsory process to obtain the documents and materials it needs to fulfill its oversight and legislative responsibilities,” the Judiciary panel letter reads.
The committee said Harvard has only turned over 400 documents, less than any other Ivy League under investigation. In addition, the Republicans say that much of the documents contain publicly available information.
The subpoena was sent by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Chairman Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis).
Harvard has until July 17 to produce additional materials on this matter.
The Hill has reached out to Harvard for comment.
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Ranking member of the Judiciary Committee Jaime Raskin (D-Md.) condemned the subpoena in a statement.
“Rather than standing up for the Constitution and opposing Trump’s Gangster State agenda, my Republican colleagues are using Congress’s investigative powers to enforce it,” Raskin said.
The move comes after President Trump said his administration and Harvard are close to coming to a deal after months of frozen funding, threats to take away the university’s tax-exempt status and attempts to strip it of its ability to enroll foreign students.
The details of any deal are unknown, including if it would end the two lawsuits between Harvard and the administration — one over the funding freeze and the other over the threat to take away international students from the school.
