Overview
- More than 100 Jewish faculty and staff at Harvard, who on Wednesday released an open letter, urged the Justice Department to drop its Title VI case and called the government’s approach a political use of antisemitism claims that would harm free expression.
- Leaders of Harvard Hillel and Harvard Chabad said the university has taken antisemitism seriously, and a student cited in the lawsuit said DOJ miscast a mezuzah theft case, arguing police and Harvard investigated but could not identify a culprit.
- The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened two investigations Monday, demanding Harvard’s admissions data within 20 days and probing complaints about campus antisemitism and compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on race-based admissions.
- The Justice Department filed a lawsuit last week alleging Harvard showed deliberate indifference after Oct. 7, 2023, and it seeks to block future payments on existing grants and claw back nearly $1 billion in prior awards.
- A federal judge in Boston ruled last September that earlier funding cuts were unlawful, a decision now on appeal, while outlets split on the fight with Breitbart highlighting enforcement threats, GBH and the Globe describing a politicized crackdown, and Fox featuring students who say Jewish classmates feel unwelcome.