For the past few weeks, Harvard has struggled with developing appropriate internal responses to incidents of hate and discrimination on its campus, resulting in a deep polarization among students, faculty, and alumni. In an effort to combat these issues, Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber, announced two presidential task forces devoted to combating antisemitism and Islamophobia on Jan. 19.
“Reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic acts on our campus have grown, and the sense of belonging among these groups has been undermined. We need to understand why and how that is happening—and what more we might do to prevent it,” said Garber in an official statement published on the Harvard website.
Harvard, along with other universities, have seen multiple campus protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Many Jewish students and allies are demanding condemnation after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants, while Muslim students have joined to condemn the response by Israel, in addition to the alleged mistreatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
“I see the flaws in the Israeli government. They’re not perfect at all—my family and I have protested them for years. Still, I don’t think the solution to these problems is the dissolving of the Jewish state,” said junior Mika Amar.
These events have prompted debates about how Harvard should regulate speech on campus. Pro-Hamas students and faculty have marched through campus, shouting antisemitic slogans such as “Death to Jews,” in classrooms, student lounges, and multiple campus buildings. There have also been cases of Jewish students being harassed by their peers and even professors throughout campus.
At the same time, Palestinian students have faced increased racism and have filed civil rights complaints against the school for discrimination and harassment. Jewish students have filed a lawsuit against Harvard, accusing the university of tolerating similar harassment and discrimination, such as allowing the screening of the antisemitic film “Israelism, “ which was received with applause and cheers from Harvard students.
“Harvard must be forced to protect its Jewish students and stop applying a double standard when it comes to anti-Jewish bigotry. This lawsuit is necessary because Harvard will not correct its deep-seated antisemitism problem voluntarily,” said Marc Kasowitz, a partner at the law firm that brought the lawsuit, in a statement.
The co-chairs of the antisemitism task force are Derek Penslar, a professor of Jewish History, and Rafaella Sadun, a professor of business administration. The co-chairs of the Islamophobia task force are professor of population sciences Richard Saltonstall and professor of international finance and development Asim Ijaz Khwaja. The establishment of these task forces aim to identify and combat antisemitic and Islamophobic behavior on campuses, which raises questions about a student’s right to free speech. Students are demanding that university leaders take a side between two polarized versions of free speech, which sometimes include threats and encouragement of violence.
“Some people are carelessly spreading information about Israel, and not all of it is true. The opinionated youth should reroute their mindset from blaming Israel to helping the Palestinians. People are finding more ways to unnecessarily hate Jewish people, while they should be blaming Hamas instead. History repeats itself—in the 1940s, Jews were blamed for the downfall of Germany. The Jews get a lot of the blame for unfortunate events, and all it takes is for people to look at it differently,” said junior Cassidy Metzner.
The antisemitism task force has received criticism for its leadership, particularly that of Derek Penslar. Before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, he signed a letter calling Israel an apartheid regime. The letter stated the Israeli government had been determined to “ethnically cleanse all territories under Israeli rule of their Palestinian population”.
Some of his biggest critics are former Harvard president Larry Summers and former Treasury Secretary Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager who had been vocal about antisemitism. They are criticizing Harvard for putting Penslar as a co-chair of the task force, claiming he’s unsuited for the role.
“Penslar is a profound scholar of Zionism and a person of good will without a trace of personal antisemitism who cares deeply about Harvard. That being said, he is unsuited to leading a task force whose function is to combat what is seen by many as a serious antisemitism problem at Harvard,” said Summers.
Despite the controversy over Penslar’s selection, others believe his legitimacy with students against Israeli policy, and with the Jewish community as well, qualify him for the appointment. Some argue that his separation of the state of Israel with Judaism allows him to fulfill Harvard needs internally, making his appointment a necessary one for the well-being of Harvard staff and students.
“One cannot say, about hate speech, that they ‘find it personally abhorrent’ without acknowledging the action that must be taken against it. It’s almost impossible to imagine that those at an Ivy League school cannot tell the difference between free speech and rotten, hateful harassment. These people are meant to represent what society should aspire to be, yet they allow for students to call upon the genocide of their very own peers. The most important factor to remember, however, is that this is not the condition at every institution, and that no matter the situation, backing down is a last resort. This cannot be the force that drives aspiring students away from pursuing a higher education,” said senior Avigail Daniel.