The Department of Health and Human Services notified Harvard University that its federal funding will continue to be jeopardized as the latest investigation into the academic institution found that it has acted with “deliberate indifference towards harassment of Jewish and Israeli students by other students and faculty from October 7, 2023, through the present.”
HHS’s Office for Civil Rights wrote to Harvard University President Alan Garber, stating that the university has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by being a “willful participant” in the anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students, faculty, and staff.
Those who participated in encampment protests on university grounds received “lax and inconsistent discipline—and as the discipline was reviewed by higher levels among the faculty, it was often downgraded,” the letter describes, emphasizing that members of Harvard’s leadership acknowledged that the process was “not fair” and “not right.”
The letter states that Harvard “did not dispute” the investigation’s findings. “These facts, while tragic for the individuals involved, are important to address for a broader, historical reason as well,” the letter says. “As history has proven, the failure to face the reality of anti-Semitism can have catastrophic effects.”
Paula M. Stannard, Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, said in a statement that “Harvard’s public pledges to improve its disciplinary framework for harassment and misconduct are inadequate to meaningfully address these serious findings.”
“HHS stands ready to reengage in productive discussions with Harvard to reach resolution on the corrective action that Harvard can take to remedy the violations and come into compliance with its Title VI obligations,” Stannard said.
