Harvard Faces Federal Investigation, Joining These Other Universities

Topline

The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation this week into Harvard University, making the Ivy League school the latest university to face a federal probe as student-led protests continue to divide university officials, donors and students following Gaza-based militant group Hamas’ attack on Israel last month.

A pro-Palestinian demonstration last month at Harvard University.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Harvard was added on Tuesday to a growing list of colleges, universities and K-12 schools under investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, a list that also includes Cornell University, Columbia University, Wellesley College and the University of Pennsylvania.

The Office for Civil Rights launched the investigation into a group of eight schools earlier this month over alleged “shared ancestry” violations under the Civil Rights Act, a provision of the landmark 1964 act that prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin, including discrimination based on shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics, citizenship or residence in a country “with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.”

According to the Department of Education, violations of the act and refusal to address problems identified by the Office for Civil Rights can result in a school’s loss of federal funding or a referral to the Department of Justice (Harvard received $625 million in federal funding in 2021).

In a statement released earlier this month, assistant secretary of education for civil rights Catherine Lhamon said the department sees “the fear students and school communities experience as hate proliferates in schools.”

According to the department, the investigation comes as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to “take aggressive action” addressing rising “antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and other forms of discrimination and harassment” at schools—the Biden administration last month also released resources for educators and students through the Department of Education aimed at preventing discrimination.

The Department of Education did not provide details on the specifics of its investigation into Harvard, though Fox News reported it came in response to an incident last month in which a Jewish student was removed from a pro-Palestinian protest on campus (protesters were criticized online for allegedly assaulting the student, though demonstration organizers told Forbes at the time event marshals did not physically touch the student).

Contra

A University of Pennsylvania spokesperson told Forbes the school is “taking clear and comprehensive action to prevent, address, and respond to antisemitism,” and will “continue to vigilantly combat antisemitism and all forms of hate,” while a Harvard spokesperson told Forbes the school “support[s] the work of the Office of Civil Rights to ensure students’ rights to access educational programs are safeguarded.” A spokesperson for Columbia said the school “will cooperate with any investigation,” while a Wellesley College spokesperson said the school is “committed to addressing issues of antisemitism on our campus” (Forbes has reached out to the four other colleges and universities under investigation).

What To Watch For

Harvard President Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth are expected to testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce next week. In a press release announcing the testimonies, committee chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) cited “countless examples of antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses,” while “college administrators have largely stood by, allowing horrific rhetoric to fester and grow.”

Key Background

Colleges and universities have become a hotbed for growing tensions over the conflict between Hamas and Israel, with several protests leading to arrests and others prompting widespread criticism from school officials and major donors. Harvard, Columbia, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania have faced the brunt of that pushback. At Harvard, billionaire alum Bill Ackman called on the school to suspend students involved in the pro-Palestinian protest earlier this month who he claimed accosted a Jewish student (student organizers said that student was attempting to film protesters and was ushered away). Ackman also called out university students who signed a letter last month putting sole blame on Israel for Hamas’ attack, with Ackman urging the university to release the names of the students who signed the statement in an effort not to hire them. At Columbia, billionaire and university business school board member Henry Swieca cut ties with the school earlier this month, blaming “blatantly anti-Jewish student groups and professors,” while billionaire Leon Cooperman vowed to cut his donations to the university over pro-Palestinian protests. Columbia also suspended its chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and the student group Jewish Voice for Peace through the end of the fall term, claiming they violated university policies by holding an unauthorized event (Forbes has reached out to both student groups). A student at Cornell University, meanwhile, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly threatening Jewish students in an online forum.

Big Number

15. That’s how many schools the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has opened investigations into since the Gaza-based militant group Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. Those schools include the University of Tampa, Lafayette College and Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, as well as K-12 school districts, including the Maize Unified School District in Kansas, Hillsborough County Schools in Florida, the Clark County School District in Nevada and Wilson County Schools in Tennessee.

Harvard Faces Federal Investigation, Joining These Other Universities—Here’s What Led To It