The House Committee on Education and the Workforce alleged on Monday that Harvard University failed to punish students for their actions during anti-Israel protests in 2023 and instead blamed an Israeli student for provoking the demonstrators.
The committee alleged Harvard “rewarded” two students who assaulted a Jewish student for filming their protest during an Oct. 18, 2023 event. The university is accused of obstructing the district attorney’s investigation into the assault, failing to discipline either of the students, providing one of the attackers with a $65,000 fellowship after the event, and blaming the victim by saying that although the Israeli student “was technically within his rights … [t]he way he was taking videos appears provocative.”
“The Committee is deeply concerned that Harvard is failing to uphold its obligations under Title VI, as an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services concluded,” the letter to Harvard reads. The committee told the school it is continuing to investigate antisemitism at the university.
Harvard also allegedly told its business school not to send out a community message following the assault, saying “MENA [Middle Eastern and North African] students … will be very upset by it,” according to the letter.
Harvard did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
The university is also allegedly hesitant to end its partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank, a school the committee says “overwhelmingly supports Hamas.”
The committee is also investigating whether Harvard has implemented the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which lists certain kinds of criticism of Israel as potential “manifestations” of antisemitism.
“Under Title VI, even speech that is protected by the First Amendment may contribute to an unlawful hostile environment,” the committee wrote. “Thus, Title VI requires universities to promptly address incidents creating a hostile environment.”
Harvard must provide the committee with an outline of how and when the university responded to antisemitic incidents and all communications relating to the events it listed in its letter. Its deadline is Oct. 13.
A federal judge recently overruled the Trump administration’s $2 billion federal grant cuts to Harvard over allegations of antisemitism, among other concerns. The court decided the federal government’s actions infringed on Harvard’s free speech rights and said the university already agreed to tackle the issues independently.
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