Congressional committee demands answers from Haverford College on its handling of antisemitism complaints

The congressional committee investigating colleges’ handling of antisemitism complaints is demanding answers from Haverford College about faculty and student disciplinary actions following its president’s testimony at a hearing last month.

In an email sent Thursday, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.) criticized Haverford president Wendy Raymond’s testimony as “very disappointing,” faulting her for a “lack of transparency” on how the college responded to antisemitic incidents on campus and refusal to share data on faculty and student disciplinary actions.

Raymond had testified that the college does not release data on student suspensions and expulsions.

Walberg, who chairs the House Committee on Education and Workforce, also sent letters seeking information from DePaul University and California Polytechnic State University — whose leaders testified at the same hearing. Raymond, however seemed to take the worst of the grilling; the other two leaders provided statistics on groups and students who were suspended or otherwise disciplined for antisemitic conduct since Oct. 7, 2023.

» READ MORE: Haverford president gets the worst of the grilling at congressional hearing on antisemitism

“Dr. Raymond was the only college president at our hearing who failed to provide the committee with specific numbers of students and faculty who were disciplined for antisemitic misconduct, even in the aggregate,” Walberg said in a statement. “As members of Congress, we have the right and the duty to conduct oversight of any institution receiving federal funds to ensure they are upholding federal law.”

Walberg gave the college until July 10 to respond and said failing to do so would “hinder congressional oversight and raises major questions about her commitment to protecting Jewish students.”

A Haverford spokesperson said the college, which just received the letter, would not comment “as we review the committee’s request.” The college has been relatively mum on the issue since the hearing, declining to make Raymond, a molecular biologist who has led the college for six years, available for an interview.

» READ MORE: Penn president Liz Magill has resigned following backlash over her testimony about antisemitism

At the hearing, some of the questions Raymond faced focused on discipline in hypothetical cases that she said had not occurred on Haverford’s campus — such as someone calling for the genocide of Jewish people — and in other cases that Raymond said were not accurate accounts.

In the letter, Walberg asked when the college adopted the policy on not releasing student and faculty disciplinary statistics and to supply the policy. He also requested documents and communications dating back to Oct. 7, 2023, “that refer or relate to complaints, investigations or disciplinary actions against (Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine) involving antisemitism, harassment or crimes against Jewish students, violence against Jews, Israelis, or Zionists, support for U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations … including Hamas or the violent destruction of a Jewish state.”

The letter asks whether specific professors were investigated for social media posts regarding the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the state of Israel and Zionists.

» READ MORE: Haverford president apologizes to members of the Jewish community as she faces congressional hearing on antisemitism

The probe includes the college’s relationship with Federal Donuts, whose co-owner is Israeli. While the committee heard from critics that the college declined to serve the doughnuts at the 2024 commencement following criticism, Raymond testified that they were purchased and available.

“Please explain what you meant by “available during the commencement” and confirm whether these donuts were actually served to students at the 2024 Haverford Commencement," the congressional committee chair asked in the letter. He also asked the college to provide all documents and communications related to “the blood donuts incident,” and whether the college had ordered from the store since that time.

During the hearing, at least two lawmakers threatened Haverford’s federal funding. As a small liberal arts college, Haverford isn’t as dependent on federal funding as a large research university like the University of Pennsylvania. In the last year, the college received $1.95 million in federal research funding and $58,486 in federal sponsored awards for instruction, a college spokesperson said.

The Department of Governmental Efficiency says it has cut $204,000 in unspent federal funding from Haverford this year.

In the letter, Walberg said colleges that receive federal funds “must maintain a safe learning environment and fulfill all obligations under Title VI,” the civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin.

While critics have strongly maintained that criticism of Israel and its government is not antisemitism, Walberg asserted that: “Jewish students may experience calls for violence against Israel or the destruction of the Jewish state as antisemitism, because these are effectively calls for the killing of Jews that also deny the Jewish people their right to self-determination.”

“When faculty and administrators applaud violence against Israel, therefore, many Jewish students perceive these statements as threatening not only to the state of Israel but to themselves.”

In her opening remarks at the hearing, Raymond apologized to Jewish community members “who felt as if the college was not there for you” and took responsibility for some mistakes.

“This is an example of a difficult period of learning where I did not get it right,” Raymond said when asked about an email sent to the Haverford community after Hamas’ attack.

Raymond noted the college had made a plethora of changes to address concerns about antisemitism, including changes in the antibias policy and rules around protesting, steps to revise the honor code, and increases in campus safety at events.

The hearing was a continuation of the committee’s investigation into antisemitism complaints on college campuses. In December 2023, former Penn president Liz Magill testified before the committee and subsequently resigned after a bipartisan backlash to her testimony.