Campus News

‘Harvard Failed, End Of Story’: Majority Of Pro-Palestinian Protesters Faced Zero Discipline, Documents Show

Screenshot/YouTube/The Harvard Crimson

The majority of Pro-Palestinian protesters at Harvard University faced no punishment, according to a report released Thursday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The disciplinary documents reviewed by the committee show that none of the 68 students referred for discipline action regarding their role in the spring semester encampment were suspended. Harvard protesters disrupted classes, occupied a campus building and participated in a multi-day encampment in response to Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

“Harvard failed, end of story,” Virginia Foxx, committee chair, said in a press release. “These administrators failed their Jewish students and faculty, they failed to make it clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated, and in this case, Harvard may have failed to fulfill its legal responsibilities to protect students from a hostile environment. The only thing administrators accomplished is appeasing radical students who have almost certainly returned to campus emboldened and ready to repeat the spring semester’s chaos. Harvard must change course immediately.”

🚨“Harvard failed, end of story.” –@virginiafoxx

New Harvard documents show that administrators overwhelmingly failed to discipline those involved in antisemitic activity on campus.

Read the reports:https://t.co/NfMHZlZfR8

— House Committee on Education & the Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) September 26, 2024

Of the 68 students who faced disciplinary cases, 52 remain in “good standing” at the university while 15 are not “due to disciplinary probation” and one is “on leave,” according to the report. The university also referred 12 students for discipline for their roles in two separate events, including disrupting a class with chants and bullhorns on Nov. 29 and occupying a campus building for two days on Nov. 16 and 17, however none of them received formal punishment and are in good standing.

The college’s Administrative Board also downgraded the probation of 35 students from six months to two, allowing them to return to campus for the fall semester, according to the report. Five students who were initially meant to be suspended instead received semester-long probations, despite their conduct being declared “particularly serious.”

Harvard has faced multiple lawsuits regarding its response to antisemitism on campus, with one suit in May alleging the university is “deliberately indifferent” to the matter. Jewish students filed a lawsuit in January alleging the university did not protect them from rampant antisemitism from other students.

The committee opened an investigation into antisemitism at Harvard in December following a hearing in which then-Harvard president Claudine Gay refused to state whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated university policy. Gay was later forced to resign after facing harsh criticism over the event.

“Failure to punish these students for their antisemitic actions amounts to a likely failure to provide a safe learning environment for Jewish students, a violation of Harvard’s responsibilities under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the press release stated. “These documents demonstrate Harvard’s abysmal follow-through after students were found responsible for violating university rules and regulations, raising serious questions about administrators’ tolerance of antisemitic, anti-American protests that broke University rules and created significant disruptions.”

Harvard did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.