Harvard to undergo civil rights investigation for campus anti-Semitism
Title VI 'prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.'
Harvard University is the latest to be added to a growing list of schools under investigation by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights for alleged Title VI violations with regard to anti-Semitism on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel.
A letter from the chief attorney for the Office of Civil Rights Boston office obtained by Fox News reveals that the department will be investigating whether Harvard “failed to respond to alleged harassment of students based on their national origin (shared Jewish ancestry and/or Israeli) in a manner consistent with the requirements of Title VI.”
The letter was reportedly addressed to an alumni who filed a complaint against the school after a Jewish student was accosted at an anti-Israel demonstration.
Title VI “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.”
The department announced seven investigations Nov. 16, including Lafayette College, Cornell University, Columbia University, Wellesley College, University of Pennsylvania, The Cooper Union, and Kansas’ Maize Unified School District. Five of these investigations stem from allegations of anti-Semitism, while two stem from allegations of Islamophobia, per Politico.
The department announced similar investigations Nov. 21 against both The University of Tampa and Florida’s Hillsborough County school district.
“They [the Department of Education] are very clearly trying to demonstrate that they are moving quickly to respond to concerns they’ve heard from the public, from Congress and from the administration,” Jonathan Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations and national engagement at the American Council on Education told CNN.