Harvard vows change amid release of internal reports on antisemitism, anti-Arab

Harvard has vowed to make changes after two internal reports regarding antisemitism and Islamophobia were released, causing the president of the school to apologize for the campus culture. 

“The 2023-24 academic year was disappointing and painful. I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Harvard President Alan Garber said in a message to the community.  

In response to the reports, one of which focused on antisemitism and the other on students who experienced anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian or anti-Arab bias, Harvard will be reviewing its admission policies, appointments, curriculum and orientation and training programs. The school also wants to work on programs that foster dialogue among those with differences of opinion. 

“In parallel, we are initiating further review of disciplinary policies and procedures to assess their effectiveness and efficiency, and are laying the groundwork to generate annual reports describing the University’s response to complaints of discrimination or harassment,” Garber said.

The announcement comes the same day Harvard said it was changing the name of its diversity, equity and inclusion office to Community and Campus Life. 

Both reports detail how Jewish, Israeli, Arab and Palestinian students felt unsafe on campus and not free to share their opinions openly.  

In the antisemitism report, it noted the issue long predates Hamas’s attack on Israel in 2023 and goes back to the early 2010s. In the anti-Palestinian report, concerns about free speech on campus were top of mind. 

The announced changes come after Harvard sued the Trump administration for taking away $2 billion in funding. 

The federal government took away the funding because Harvard said it would not cave to demands such as eliminating DEI and changing its admission and hiring practices.  

“May our successors, whether they are Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, or of any combination of backgrounds and perspectives, find Harvard to be a place where they can be themselves, express their views freely, and encounter sympathy and understanding—a place where all are cheered on as they pursue their dreams,” Garber concluded in his message.  

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.