Context:

The Trump administration has accused Harvard University of discriminating against Jewish students, issuing a Notice of Violation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services found that Harvard was in violation due to a pattern of antisemitic harassment and discrimination, including student-on-student harassment and institutional acceptance of antisemitism. The letter to Harvard President Alan Garber highlighted specific incidents, such as Jewish students experiencing bias, feeling unsafe, and concealing their identity. The administration threatened to pull all federal funding if Harvard does not implement immediate changes to address these issues. Recent financial challenges at Harvard, including proposed increases in endowment tax and cuts to federal research funding, have already led to staff layoffs at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Dive Deeper:

• The Trump administration issued a Notice of Violation to Harvard University for alleged discrimination against Jewish students, citing violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin.

• Investigations by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that Harvard has a pattern of antisemitic harassment, including direct student-on-student harassment, targeted harassment by student groups, and exclusion of Jewish students from campus spaces.

• The majority of Jewish students reported experiencing negative bias or discrimination on campus, with a quarter feeling physically unsafe, and incidents included physical assaults, spitting, and vandalism with antisemitic imagery.

• Harvard faced criticism for its handling of anti-Israel demonstrations, which included calls for genocide and murder, and for failing to adequately discipline students involved in these demonstrations.

• The administration warned that failure to address these issues would result in the loss of federal funding, amid existing financial challenges such as staff layoffs at Harvard Kennedy School and cuts to federal research funding.

• The letter emphasized that Harvard's commitment to racial hierarchies enabled antisemitism to proliferate and demanded equal protection under the law for all groups, urging Harvard to make immediate changes.

• Harvard was also noted for its role in race discrimination and affirmative action policies, with the letter referencing the 2023 Supreme Court decision against race-based affirmative action programs.