Harvard University failed to implement recommendations that it was presented with from an anti-Semitism group that it created following Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
The investigation from the House Education and the Workforce Committee started several months later when it subpoenaed the school.
Harvard President Claudine Gay announced in late October that she had created the Antisemitism Advisory Group (AAG) to “combat antisemitism in our community.”
However, even though she attended most of the meetings that the group held, very little was ever done to implement the group’s recommendations for how to make the campus safer.
“The Committee’s report proves that former President Gay and Harvard’s leadership propped up the university’s Antisemitism Advisory Group all for show,” said Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC). “Not only did the AAG find that antisemitism was a major issue on campus, it offered several recommendations on how to combat the problem — none of which were ever implemented with any real vigor. This shocking revelation reveals an inner look at how dysfunctional Harvard’s administration is and the deep-seated moral rot that clouds its judgement.”
The report said that the AAG found that anti-Semitic harassment was a significant problem on campus and that most of its members threatened to resign over Gay’s inaction on their findings.
The following were among the recommendations that the group presented to the school:
- Having “zero tolerance” for classroom disruptions;
- Protecting shared learning environments;
- Holding student organizations accountable for adhering to University rules;
- Countering antisemitic speech;
- Reviewing the academic rigor of classes and programs with antisemitic content;
- Reviewing Harvard’s Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging’s (OEDIB) inadequacy in addressing antisemitism; and
- Increasing intellectual diversity; and
- Investigating the potential influence of “dark money” from Iran, Qatar, and associates of terrorist groups on campus.
The group advised the school’s leadership that they also needed to address the prevalence of anti-Semitic protesters wearing masks to hide their identities during some of the more obscene incidents that happened on campus.