Harvard Risks Losing Billions Over Civil Rights Failures, U.S. Government Warns

The U.S. government has told Harvard University that it broke federal civil rights laws by not protecting Jewish and Israeli students from harassment and discrimination.

This warning came after a government investigation found that Harvard did not do enough to stop antisemitic incidents on campus. The investigation found that Jewish students at Harvard faced serious problems.

Some students reported being spat on or physically attacked. Others saw hateful graffiti and stickers, including images that mixed dollar signs with the Star of David or changed Israeli flags to include swastikas.

Many Jewish students said they felt unsafe, especially during campus protests after the Israel-Hamas conflict in late 2023. The government said Harvard’s weak response to these incidents broke the law.

Federal law requires universities that get government money to protect students from discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. The government told Harvard that unless it makes real changes right away, it will lose all federal funding.

This would mean losing billions of dollars that help pay for research and student financial aid. Harvard has already lost more than $2.6 billion in federal research money because of earlier disagreements with the government.

The university admits it has problems with antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias and says it is working on new ways to fix them. However, Harvard disagrees with the government’s findings and says it has taken steps to make campus safer.