The House Education and Workforce Committee, which has been investigating anti-Israel protests on college campuses following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, has determined that Harvard University did not sufficiently discipline students who violated the school’s policies during these protests.
Documents obtained by the committee revealed that between April 24 and May 14, Harvard initiated disciplinary cases against 68 students. Despite this, none of these students are currently suspended, and 52 remain in “good standing.” The committee asserted that Harvard failed to enforce Title VI, which prohibits a “hostile environment based on race, color, or national origin.” According to a summary obtained by Fox News, Harvard identified violations that warranted suspensions but ultimately failed to impose any meaningful consequences.
The committee noted that discipline for these students “would have been consistent with the Harvard Corporation’s pronouncement that ‘calls for violence’ and academic disruptions would ‘not be tolerated,’” claiming that the “records, however, reveal that Harvard failed to fulfill this commitment and has permitted students to engage in such conduct with no real consequences.”
Representative Virginia Foxx, the committee chair, blasted Harvard for its handling of the situation, saying, “Harvard failed, end of story.”
“These administrators failed their Jewish students and faculty, they failed to make it clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated, and in this case, Harvard may have failed to fulfill its legal responsibilities to protect students from a hostile environment. The only thing administrators accomplished is appeasing radical students who have almost certainly returned to campus emboldened and ready to repeat the spring semester’s chaos. Harvard must change course immediately,” Foxx said in a statement to Fox News.
The protests in question included an anti-Israel encampment on Harvard’s campus, with students protesting against Israel’s actions in the ongoing war. The committee also accused Harvard of failing to hold student groups accountable for antisemitic conduct.
“On September 10, the Harvard Crimson reported that Harvard lifted the April 22 suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC),” the committee wrote. “This reversal comes despite the role of PSC and its membership in organizing the unlawful Harvard encampment through the unrecognized group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP),” the committee said.
The committee also noted that Harvard’s Administrative Board downgraded the sanctions of 35 students who were initially placed on disciplinary probation. These students’ probation periods were reduced from six months to less than two months, meaning none remained on probation by the start of the fall 2024 semester. The documents revealed that every student who appealed disciplinary sanctions related to involvement in the encampment had their penalties reduced.
In addition, Harvard did not issue any formal punishments to nine students who occupied University Hall in November, disrupting classes with bullhorns and antisemitic chants. Despite their disruption of normal business operations, the students faced no formal disciplinary consequences.
