Harvard president "sorry" after reports on antisemitism, Islamophobia
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The Harvard University campus in Cambridge is seen on April 15. Photo: Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images
Harvard University's president apologized and vowed to make changes after two internal reports on antisemitism and anti-Arab bias were released Tuesday.
The big picture: The reports come as the Ivy League university is suing the Trump administration for freezing billions in federal funds in a battle that's officially about fighting antisemitism but has also become about governmental regulation of higher education.
Driving the news: Task forces composed of faculty and some students released final reports, which were commissioned by the university, on Tuesday — one on campus antisemitism and another on anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian bias.
- The first report found antisemitism to be present on campus, through class work and academic programs, in social settings and in hiring faculty.
- The Islamaophobia report found that 92% of surveyed Muslims believe they'd face academic or professional consequences for expressing their political beliefs.
- "Separately and together, the task force reports reveal aspects of a charged period in our recent history, offering searing personal accounts as they hold up a mirror to our interactions with one another," said Harvard President Alan Garber, who convened the task forces, on Tuesday.
What they're saying: "I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community," Garber said in a letter accompanying the reports on the previous academic year.
- "Separately and together, the task force reports reveal aspects of a charged period in our recent history, offering searing personal accounts as they hold up a mirror to our interactions with one another."
- Garber called the 2023-24 academic year "disappointing and painful" and said the Israel-Hamar war brought long-simmering tensions to the surface.
- He said the university has made "necessary changes and essential progress" over the past year but vowed to take further action to address tensions, saying "Harvard cannot — and will not — abide bigotry."
Context: The Department of Human Health and Services' Office for Civil Rights demanded earlier this month that the university publish the reports by May 2, following delays.
Go deeper: Trump admin launches race-based discrimination probe into Harvard Law Review
