[Harvard Campus; Photo credit to unsplash]

Recently, the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has initiated an antisemitism investigation at Harvard based on a student allegation.

Since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, Havard, like many other higher education institution, has been permeated with demonstrations and hostilities between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students.

A filed complaint on this issue was one of many discrimination protests regarding the treatment of “shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics” in university settings.

Other prestigious institutions on this list include Columbia, Cornell, Wellesley College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Tampa, and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

In response, several school districts have also started to raise concerns about discriminatory behaviors, mainly antisemitic ones, within their establishments.

Acknowledging the severity of ethnicity-based inequitable treatment, on November 16th, the Office for Civil Rights declared its commitment to thoroughly investigate any viable claims set forth on “antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and other forms of discrimination and harassment”.

In Harvard’s case specifically, the anonymous claim included accusatory statements of the university discriminating against students of Jewish or Israeli ancestry.

Furthermore, direct harassment of these students has also been exposed and publicized on social media.

One notable incident on October 18th involved a video clip showing “pro-Palestinian students trying to corral a young man holding a cellphone” who was “taking pictures of demonstrators lying on the ground, participating in a “die-in.” 

Noticing the perceived injustice and the lack of response from the university, distinguished figures such as Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager, and alumnus, sent an open letter to the Harvard Corporation Board and president mentioning the rise of antisemitism around the campus.

An excerpt from Ackman’s letter stated “Jewish students are being bullied, physically intimidated, spat on, and in several widely disseminated videos of one such incident, physically assaulted.”

However, he went as far as to claim, “On-campus protesters on the Widener Library steps and elsewhere shout, ‘Intifada! Intifada! Intifada! From the River to the Sea, Palestine Shall be Free!’”, which is a direct translation, by commonly known symbolism, of the annihilation of Israel.

As the antisemitic behavior has escalated in severity with minimal countermeasures, Claudine Gay, the current president of Harvard, and Larry Summers, U.S. treasury secretary and former president of Harvard, have been criticized for insufficient addressing of the issue.

Since facing public disapproval of their proceedings, Summers, in particular, had started taking a stronger stance on the issue, publicly announcing denunciations against antisemitism.

Summers also established a ‘task force’ to combat the issue and make Harvard a more equitable and safe environment for those from diverse backgrounds.

The university’s official statement, issued on November 29th, claimed to “support the work of the Office for Civil Rights to ensure students’ rights to access educational programs are safeguarded and will work with the office to address their questions,” indicating their disposition to cooperate with other institutions to ameliorate the issue.