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Harvard pushes back at Trump administration over antisemitism findings

Harvard University says it strongly disagrees with the findings of a federal task force accusing it of being a “willful participant” in antisemitic harassment of Jewish students and faculty.

“Antisemitism is a serious problem and no matter the context, it is unacceptable,” the university says in a statement. “Harvard has taken substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of antisemitism in its community.”

The government’s investigation largely relied on a campus antisemitism study commissioned by Harvard and released in April. Federal officials cited numerous details from that report, including accounts of Jewish students who said they were spit on and faced chants on campus including “Heil Hitler.”

It focuses heavily on last year’s protests over the Israel-Hamas war. In the letter to Harvard, federal officials say the campus was “overrun by an impermissible, multiweek encampment” that left Jewish and Israeli students fearful and disrupted their studies.

The task force threatens to refer the case to the Justice Department to file a civil rights lawsuit “as soon as possible,” unless Harvard comes into compliance.

Harvard has faced mounting sanctions after rejecting a list of federal demands calling for sweeping changes to campus governance, hiring and admissions. The formal finding could now jeopardize Harvard’s eligibility to accept federal loans or grants for students to attend the university — a penalty often referred to as a “death sentence” in higher education.

In a court filing Monday seeking to annul the freezing of federal funds over antisemitism claims, Harvard argues that the formal filing marks a concession by the government that it previously bypassed required procedural findings under Title VI.

It calls the administration’s previous use of antisemitism claims to justify the freeze “arbitrary and capricious,” with the government failing to investigate or document antisemitism on campus itself and relying instead on Harvard’s own study.

The filing also claims an “absence of any concrete evidence of antisemitism in the administrative record,” while accusing the government of ignoring the school’s efforts to combat hate.

“Harvard’s willingness to seek and publish a report harshly condemning antisemitism on its campus, and detailing actions to implement the report’s recommendations, show that Harvard did respond and is responding
forcefully to antisemitism,” the filing reads.