Harvard University has agreed to enhance protections for Jewish students under a settlement announced Tuesday, resolving two lawsuits that accused the Ivy League school of fostering an environment rife with antisemitism, Reuters reported.
As part of the settlement, Harvard will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, incorporating specific examples of discriminatory behavior when assessing potential violations of its non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies.
Additionally, the university will publish an FAQ addressing these policies, provide annual enforcement reports over the next five years, and offer training to staff responsible for reviewing discrimination complaints.
This settlement concludes lawsuits filed by Students Against Antisemitism and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, in partnership with the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. While the settlement includes undisclosed financial payments, Harvard has not admitted to any wrongdoing.
Jewish students at Harvard had previously accused the university of selectively enforcing anti-discrimination policies, citing incidents where they were called “murderers” and targeted by a widely shared “die-in” protest that labeled Israel as a perpetrator of war crimes.
They also criticized Harvard for employing faculty who allegedly promoted antisemitic propaganda and incited violence against Jews.
Harvard, which has seen an uptick in anti-Israel activity since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed, has come under fire over its handling of antisemitism on campus.
Just two days after the October 7 massacre, a coalition of 34 Harvard student organizations released a statement in which they blamed Israel for Hamas’ attack.
Later, then-Harvard President Claudine Gay came under fire after she, along with MIT President Sally Kornbluth and University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, testified before a congressional hearing on the issue of antisemitism on college campuses.
All three university presidents gave similar answers to Rep. Elise Stefanik in which they failed to unequivocally condemn antisemitism or even calls for genocide against Jews. Gay eventually resigned as President of Harvard and was replaced by Garber, who will serve in the role until at least 2027.
In May, anti–Israel protesters at Harvard voluntarily took down a protest encampment after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment.
The anti-Israel protests began again with the start of the new academic year in early September, when anti-Israel protesters donning keffiyehs marched through the Harvard campus, waving Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags and chanting “Long live the intifada” and “Globalize the intifada”.