(Reuters) -Harvard University released two reports on Tuesday that found many Jewish, Israeli, Arab, Muslim and Palestinian students had experienced bigotry and abuse as its Massachusetts campus was roiled by protests last year, with some fearing exclusion for airing their political views.
The reports were the result of two task forces set up in January 2024, one on combating antisemitism and anti-Israel bias, the other on combating anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian bias.
The reports made recommendations that Harvard review its admissions, appointments, curriculum, and orientation and training programs, as well as change its disciplinary processes.
They come as Harvard is facing extraordinary pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which last month said it was freezing more than $2.2 billion in grants, mostly for medical and other scientific research.
Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House in January, has said Harvard and other U.S. universities foster anti-American, antisemitic and Marxist ideologies.
Harvard, a private university, has since sued the government, saying its actions violate its constitutional free speech rights and academic freedom.
Harvard’s president, Dr. Alan Garber, said the reports included “searing personal accounts” drawn from listening sessions held last year.
“Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist community members reported experiencing our campus climate as unwelcoming,” he wrote in a letter accompanying the reports. “In some cases, they hid overt markers of their identities to avoid confrontation. Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and pro-Palestinian community members reported feeling judged, misrepresented, and silenced.”
He wrote that Harvard would do more to teach its students how to have “productive and civil dialogue” with people from different backgrounds and would promote “viewpoint diversity.”
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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