This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Congress has decided to investigate the tax-exempt status, which provides millions of dollars in benefits, of four elite schools because they failed to "adequately protect" Jewish students from harassment and discrimination.

The Washington Examiner said it has learned that the investigation will focus on Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Some of America's high-priced institutions, including these, have been under fire for their decisions not to condemn immediately the Hamas terror attack in October that killed at least 1,200 Israeli civilians.

Some college presidents summoned to Congress refused to confirm anti-Semitic ideologies would violate their policies, and Harvard chief Claudine Gay was pushed out of her job for her decision to leave the impression that anti-Semitism was all right with her.

The report said the House Ways and Means Committee launched the review of the school's failure to condemn the Hamas terrorism, even while promoting their own socially woke agenda of "diversity, equity, and inclusion."

The letter from the panel chief, Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., said the schools need to answer questions about "moral clarity."

He told them, in a letter, "As you know, your institutions are aided by the beneficial treatment provided to nonprofit, tax-exempt entities. Your universities also receive funding from federal grants and appropriations, support for student loan assistance, lucrative financial benefits from your tax-exempt status, and the advantageous tax treatment of your institutions' endowments."

He continued, "You may also be aware that there are certain standards your institutions must meet to receive this highly advantageous and preferential treatment."

He questioned whether the universities are operating "primarily for educational purposes" or whether another ideology is controlling their actions.

The report said the letter went to Interim Harvard President Alan Garber, MIT President Sally Kornbluth, Cornell President Martha E. Pollack, and UPenn Interim President Larry Jameson.

Kornbluth, Gay, and Liz Magill, of the University of Pennsylvania, before Congress, "declined … to say whether calls for genocide against Jews constituted harassment under school policies," the report said.

The Hamas terror put a spotlight on universities because of their allowance, even support, for "pro-Palestinian student demonstrations ... that are openly anti-Semitic," the report said.

The committee oversees, among other agencies, the IRS.

Magill had implied, earlier to Congress, that hate of Jews on campus would only be illegal "if it turned into conduct."

The report noted Cornell University student Talia Dror earlier told Congress, “[s]tudents, professors, and administrators at Cornell celebrated the massacre of innocent civilians."

Smith's letter provided a long list of questions for the schools to answer by a deadline of Jan. 24.