The Harvard civil rights controversy is intensifying as legal experts warn that the university may be violating federal law by using its resources to promote the Harvard Black Alumni Society and its race-based events. The group’s “Harvard on the Vineyard” series included a “Black Ivy Happy Hour Mixer” and a reception attended by Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Harvard not only promoted the events but also hosted the society’s website on its official “harvard.edu” domain, raising questions about compliance with the Civil Rights Act.
Cornell Law professor William Jacobson said the arrangement “is probably enough to render this a Harvard program such that it would fall under the DOJ guidelines. I think that clearly crosses a line. So I think that Harvard is responsible for things that it promotes and things that it facilitates. So I think this one looks like it’s highly likely to be a violation of the Civil Rights Act.”
Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Anastasia Boden echoed the concern, noting, “So long as it accepts taxpayer money, Harvard and its affiliated groups have to abide by civil rights law. That means it can’t divvy people up based on race.”
The controversy grew after Georgetown law professor Sheryll Cashin posted about the events on LinkedIn, later deleting comments that suggested Harvard had a role in the reception. Critics say the deletion looked like an effort to conceal evidence. William Trachman of the Mountain States Legal Foundation warned, “If there were ever a school to be worried about right now, it’s Harvard, given all of the anti-Semitism and DEI programming and general history of discrimination that has already drawn the attention of the administration.”
