Apologies in advance for offending you, @WIL71 . Looks like the Trump WH yet again on the right side of history.
Harvard will launch a research project on antisemitism and a historical analysis of Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians at the university. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Jewish students described being treated as pariahs. Arab and Muslim students said they felt like “second-class citizens.” Both groups said their peers viewed them with suspicion, leading them to play down their identities.
Those were some of the findings of two searing reports on antisemitism and anti-Arab or anti-Muslim bias that Harvard University released Tuesday in the midst of its extraordinary confrontation with the Trump administration, which has accused the school of violating the civil rights of its Jewish students.
Work on the reports began last year at the height of the campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war, and they largely describe events of the previous academic year.
Nonetheless, the findings on the climate for Jewish students in particular may bolster the Trump administration’s accusation that Harvard violated their civil rights by failing to protect them from antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
The reports were originally to be released last fall. But, following delays, the Trump administration demanded on April 19 that Harvard turn over all documents, including any drafts and edits, related to the antisemitism report.
In an open letter Tuesday, Harvard president Alan Garber emphasized the reports focused on events that are now a year old. “The 2023-24 academic year was disappointing and painful,” he wrote.
Both reports show where Harvard failed to support students at a time when they needed it most — in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza that followed.
Related: Read: Harvard's Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias
Some Jewish students were disturbed at seeing peers seemingly apologizing for, or even celebrating, the attack by Hamas, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students, meanwhile, felt university leaders minimized the staggering death toll and destruction in Gaza.
“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Garber wrote. He was Harvard’s provost during the fall 2023 semester and promptly convened the two task forces after assuming the presidency when Claudine Gay resigned last January.
The reports described certain commonalities in the experiences of Jewish, Israeli, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students, that their identities made them suspect in the eyes of peers. Jewish students said they were treated as “oppressors”; Arab and Muslim students said they were disparaged as “terrorists.” Some said they sought to hide outward signs of their identity.
Both reports also described vicious, bigoted social media posts, especially on Sidechat, a platform that allows users with Harvard email addresses to post anonymously.
There were also notable differences: For Jewish and Israeli students, the primary source of animus was their peers. Meanwhile, Arab, Muslim, Palestinian, and pro-Palestinian students pointed to Harvard leaders, saying they had “abandoned and silenced” them.
The two task forces, each with roughly a dozen members including professors, administrators, and students, conducted around 50 “listening sessions” on campus, collected written testimony, and commissioned a joint survey. The antisemitism task force said approximately 500 people participated in its sessions.
Harvard releases searing reports on antisemitism, Islamophobia. ‘I am sorry,’ president Alan Garber says.
By Mike Damiano and Brooke Hauser Globe Staff,Updated April 29, 2025, 7:40 p.m.Harvard will launch a research project on antisemitism and a historical analysis of Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians at the university. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Jewish students described being treated as pariahs. Arab and Muslim students said they felt like “second-class citizens.” Both groups said their peers viewed them with suspicion, leading them to play down their identities.
Those were some of the findings of two searing reports on antisemitism and anti-Arab or anti-Muslim bias that Harvard University released Tuesday in the midst of its extraordinary confrontation with the Trump administration, which has accused the school of violating the civil rights of its Jewish students.
Work on the reports began last year at the height of the campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war, and they largely describe events of the previous academic year.
Nonetheless, the findings on the climate for Jewish students in particular may bolster the Trump administration’s accusation that Harvard violated their civil rights by failing to protect them from antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
The reports were originally to be released last fall. But, following delays, the Trump administration demanded on April 19 that Harvard turn over all documents, including any drafts and edits, related to the antisemitism report.
In an open letter Tuesday, Harvard president Alan Garber emphasized the reports focused on events that are now a year old. “The 2023-24 academic year was disappointing and painful,” he wrote.
Both reports show where Harvard failed to support students at a time when they needed it most — in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza that followed.
Related: Read: Harvard's Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias
Some Jewish students were disturbed at seeing peers seemingly apologizing for, or even celebrating, the attack by Hamas, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students, meanwhile, felt university leaders minimized the staggering death toll and destruction in Gaza.
“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Garber wrote. He was Harvard’s provost during the fall 2023 semester and promptly convened the two task forces after assuming the presidency when Claudine Gay resigned last January.
The reports described certain commonalities in the experiences of Jewish, Israeli, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students, that their identities made them suspect in the eyes of peers. Jewish students said they were treated as “oppressors”; Arab and Muslim students said they were disparaged as “terrorists.” Some said they sought to hide outward signs of their identity.
Both reports also described vicious, bigoted social media posts, especially on Sidechat, a platform that allows users with Harvard email addresses to post anonymously.
There were also notable differences: For Jewish and Israeli students, the primary source of animus was their peers. Meanwhile, Arab, Muslim, Palestinian, and pro-Palestinian students pointed to Harvard leaders, saying they had “abandoned and silenced” them.
The two task forces, each with roughly a dozen members including professors, administrators, and students, conducted around 50 “listening sessions” on campus, collected written testimony, and commissioned a joint survey. The antisemitism task force said approximately 500 people participated in its sessions.
