Harvard president clarifies that school must condemn anti-Semitic speech
Harvard President Alan Garber has clarified that the university should condemn anti-Semitic speech in accordance with the school's institutional voice guidelines.
On Tuesday, Garber was interviewed by The Harvard Crimson to discuss the university's recently implemented institutional voice policy and free speech.
Harvard President Alan Garber has clarified that the university should condemn anti-Semitic speech in accordance with the school’s institutional voice guidelines.
On Tuesday, Garber was interviewed by The Harvard Crimson to discuss the university’s recently implemented institutional voice policy and free speech.
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“We would strongly discourage certain kinds of speech, particularly if a reasonable person might feel that the language is antisemitic or racist or comprises other kinds of hate,” Garber told the Crimson. “I do believe that we need to continue to condemn the use of speech that is widely viewed as antisemitic or as hate speech in other forms, even if not everybody agrees.”
Garber, who was installed as Harvard’s full-time president on Saturday, replaced Claudine Gay in January. Gay notably resigned following her inability to explicitly condemn anti-Semitism during a congressional hearing in December.
“We do not tolerate antisemitism, but that does not mean we can issue a statement every time there is an allegation,” Garber also told the Crimson. “A challenge that we need to deal with is how we determine whether an incident is antisemitic.”
The outlet reports that Garber also condemned a November protest against a former Israel Defense Forces spokesperson that took place outside of Harvard Hillel and was led by Harvard Jews 4 Palestine. Demonstrators reportedly chanted “Zionists not welcome here,” “From the River to the Sea,” “Israel is a terrorist state,” and “Israeli Occupation Forces.”
“The reported incident I don’t know enough facts about, but I do believe that saying ‘Zionists are not welcome here’ is deeply offensive when it refers to a University space,” Garber said in the interview. “And it certainly would violate our policy if it was used in any way to deny access to a University space.”