Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Elder of ZiyonThe government demands are far reaching and a good case can be made that they go beyond Title VI requirements. They don't just say to comply with the law but they mandate how. For example, they demand changes in Harvard's governance structure. It is indeed a threat to Harvard's independence and I can understand why the university would want to push back on some of the more intrusive demands.
And yet.
Anything Harvard has done to protect its Jewish students since October 2023 has been done in a reactive way, to avoid lawsuits, bad publicity and government threats. At no point has it given the impression that it really cares about the welfare of its Jewish students and their right to be proudly, publicly Zionist.
Harvard's Interim President Alan Garber established a Task Force on Combating Antisemitism (and a separate one on Islamophobia) in January 2024. The task force issued preliminary recommendations in June. Some of those recommendations were partially implemented; there is no evidence that others have been:
Most glaringly, however, is that the task force promised a detailed follow-up report in the fall—but it never materialized
The findings of our Task Force’s summer research will be incorporated into a substantive report that will be submitted in the Fall. Our final report will offer a detailed analysis of how Harvard got into its current crisis of community and lay out proposals to transform our University culture for the better over the medium- and long-term.
Six months later, that final report has yet to appear.
So while Jewish students can now get hot kosher meals on campus, there is little that makes them feel safer.
Compare this to how Northwestern University has handled antisemitism on its campus. It is also under pressure from the Trump administration but it has implemented its protection for Jewish students far more proactively and transparently.
It started its antisemitism task force in November 2023, before there were any threats of lawsuits or significant pressure. Unlike Harvard, it included student leaders from Hillel and Chabad on its task force (Harvard includes one Jewish student with no record I can find of leadership in Jewish or Zionist causes.) It hosted a "MegaShabbat" which attracted 500 students. It mandated training on antisemitism for all students. It modified its policies significantly to address protests. It has transparently publicized the disciplinary actions taken against students who violated the policies.
Perhaps most importantly, Northwestern has been keeping detailed statistics on antisemitic incidents on campus and is now reporting on them. We have no such data on Harvard even today - there are no university surveys of incidents and no metrics on whether the partial steps Harvard has taken actually help anyone.
On the second day of Passover, antisemitic graffiti was discovered at Northwestern. On Monday, its president issued a clear statement of condemnation in an email to the entire campus community.
But when similar acts of hate and vandalism were found at Harvard (tearing down and writing on top of hostage posters in January 2024), a university spokesperson issued a generic statement - not a pro-active email, not from the president.
The overwhelming impression is that Northwestern cares about its Jewish students and their safety. Harvard pretends to care about its Jewish students and their safety.
I would be a lot more sympathetic to Harvard's position if they were doing what Northwestern is doing. But they aren't. They are paying lip service to their Jewish students while publicly defending those who want to attack them.
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(The chart above was generated by a deep-research AI.)
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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024) PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022) |
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