White House Targets Harvard for Failing To Protect Jewish Students
The Trump administration on Monday declared that Harvard University violated federal civil rights law for failing to address the widespread harassment of Jewish and Israeli students adequately. The move could result in the university losing all federal financial support unless it enacts immediate reforms.
In a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber, four federal agencies accused the Ivy League institution of being “in violent violation of Title VI” of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. Officials emphasized that protections under Title VI extend to individuals with shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics.
The administration’s investigation, laid out in a 57-page report, found that Jewish and Israeli students at Harvard were subject to “severe, pervasive and objectively offensive harassment” from the time of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel through 2025. A multi-week encampment protesting Israel’s war in Gaza was cited as a major disruption, leaving some students fearful and prompting criticism of Harvard’s inconsistent discipline.
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Paula Stannard, head of the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Harvard’s recent steps to combat antisemitism, such as creating a faculty-led disciplinary panel, were “too little, too late.”
The letter threatens to refer the matter to the Department of Justice if Harvard does not voluntarily comply with the request. Justice Department Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon was among the signatories.
Harvard has disputed the government’s findings, saying in a statement that the university “strongly disagrees” with the characterization that it has ignored antisemitism.
“Harvard cannot and will not abide bigotry,” Garber said in April, following the release of the school’s internal report on campus bias.
Negotiations over a potential settlement are ongoing. President Donald Trump said last week that any agreement under discussion would be “mindbogglingly HISTORIC.”
The administration has launched similar investigations at other institutions, including Columbia University, and recently forced the resignation of the University of Virginia’s president as part of a broader effort to reshape higher education policies.
