Harvard violated students’ civil rights, Trump administration finds

The Trump administration has informed Harvard University that its investigation found that it violated federal civil-rights law over its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students.

Students walk through Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Picture: AP

The Trump administration has informed Harvard University that its investigation found that it violated federal civil-rights law over its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students, putting the federal funding of the nation’s oldest university further at risk.

The investigation is the latest in the battle between the White House and Harvard. The Trump administration has sought to make the wealthiest US university exhibit A in its fight against liberal institutions it says didn’t take anti-Semitism and DEI concerns seriously.

In a letter sent to Harvard President Alan Garber on Monday and viewed by The Wall Street Journal, attorneys for the administration said the investigation found that Harvard knew Jewish and Israeli students felt threatened on its campus and acted with deliberate indifference.

“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” the letter states.

“Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”

Harvard didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A formal “notice of violation” of civil-rights law generally is a step that can come before either a lawsuit from the Justice Department or a voluntary resolution with the school. Under past presidential administrations, civil-rights investigations at universities usually ended with voluntary resolution agreements.

In May, the Trump administration issued New York’s Columbia University a similar notice that a government investigation had found the school in violation of civil-rights law for allegedly failing to protect Jewish students from harassment. Columbia is also negotiating with the administration over its federal funding and autonomy.

The letter to Harvard said the university failed to act for two years while Jewish and Israeli students were assaulted and spit on. As a result many concealed their identities for fear of being harassed. It also states that images of anti-Semitic tropes were widely circulated on campus, including one that “showed a dollar sign inside a Star of David” and the campus was vandalised with anti-Semitic symbols, including one with “an Israeli flag with a swastika in place of the Star of David”.

Harvard in late April released its own internal reports on campus anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bias that portrayed a divided campus where students on both sides of the Middle East conflict felt unsafe in the months after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. The university laid out changes it has made or was working to implement.

The findings are part of the Trump administration’s broader push against universities. Earlier this year, it gave Harvard a list of demands, including requirements that Harvard allow federal-government oversight of admissions, hiring and the ideology of students and staff. The school rejected the administration’s proposal. The administration then said it would freeze more than $US2bn ($3.1bn) in grants and contracts.

Mr Trump has also tried to block Harvard’s ability to enrol international students and threatened its tax-exempt status. Harvard has sued the administration, saying the government has violated its First Amendment and due-process rights.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump seemed to indicate that the university and administration were close to reaching some sort of deal. The president praised Harvard on social media, saying: “They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right.”

The Wall Street Journal