Internal reports conclude there is an anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim climate at Harvard

Two separate reports on Harvard published Tuesday, April 29 by the university established that an anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim climate had taken hold on the campus of the prestigious American university, in the sights of Donald Trump , and urged it to act to remedy it. These two reports of several hundred pages, constructed in particular from questionnaires and hundreds of testimonies from students and supervisors conducted since January 2024, are released at a time when the university located near Boston (northeast) has attracted the wrath of the American president, who recently described it as a "far-left anti-Semitic institution" , a "progressive mess" and a "threat to democracy" .

Harvard, like other renowned American universities , Columbia in particular, is accused by the Republican president of having allowed anti-Semitism to flourish on its campus during the student movements against the war in Gaza led by Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. A first working group on anti-Semitism and anti-Israel positions, composed mainly of members of the faculty but also of students, established that the two phenomena "have been fueled, practiced and tolerated, not only at Harvard, but also more broadly in the academic world." The report urges the centuries-old university to "become a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism and anti-Israel positions."

A feeling of insecurity, abandonment, threat and isolation, as well as a pervasive climate of intolerance.

Authors of the report on anti-Muslim sentiment

A separate working group, focusing on anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Palestinian views, concluded that there was "a deep-rooted sense of fear among students, faculty, and staff ." Respondents described "a sense of insecurity, abandonment, threat, and isolation, as well as a pervasive climate of intolerance," the authors wrote. "Harvard cannot—and will not—tolerate intolerance. We will continue to protect all members of our community and safeguard them from harassment," Harvard President Alan Garber, who initiated the two reports, pledged in a letter accompanying the two reports, promising to "oversee the implementation of the recommendations" they made.

Harvard, the oldest university in the United States and one of the highest-ranked in the world, distinguished itself by being the first to sue the Trump administration over a freeze on more than $2 billion in federal funding, imposed after the renowned institution refused to comply with a series of the president's demands. Donald Trump, who criticizes universities for being hotbeds of progressive protest, wants to have a say in student admissions procedures, faculty hiring, and curricula. The accusation of anti-Semitism is frequently used by his administration to justify its measures against higher education institutions, as well as against certain international students linked to the protests against the war in Gaza.