Alumni to Harvard: Address Antisemitism or Lose Donations

More than 1,600 Jewish Harvard alumni have put their alma mater on notice: Address the antisemitism on the Ivy League campus or face a loss of donations.

"We never thought that, at Harvard University, we would have to argue the point that terrorism against civilians demands immediate and unequivocal condemnation," members of the Harvard College Jewish Alumni Association (HCJAA) wrote in an open letter to President Claudine Gay and Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana. "We never thought we would have to argue for recognition of our own humanity."

CNN reported that the organization was formed last month in the aftermath of the school's response to the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas. Organizers told the outlet it is the first Jewish alumni association in Harvard's history.

The alumni association is asking the university to recognize it as a formal special interest group, share detailed plans on how to keep Jewish students safe on campus, and adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.

"This is a broad and growing intergenerational movement of alumni from many different sectors and industries," Rebecca Claire Brooks, a co-founder of the HCJAA, told CNN. "Yes, some of them are very influential donors, and some of them are sort of more normal-sized donors. But we're speaking in one unified voice in response to this moment."

The HCJAA said that Hamas' massacre of Jews in Israel was "met with acclaim by over 30 Harvard student groups, who called the intentional slaughter of civilians 'justified' and claimed that Israel was 'solely responsible.'"

"This deluded romanticization of violence has been matched by calls for more violence and the obliteration of the state of Israel 'by any means necessary,' " the group added.

The organization also slammed Harvard for staying silent "while Jewish students mourned the murder of their own family and friends, and the whole conscientious world reeled at the scale of the horror."

"In the absence of any official pronouncement to the contrary, these letters conveyed the implicit approval of a silent administration," the HCJAA said. "It was incumbent on the administration to speak out swiftly against terrorism, especially when it has spoken clearly and forcefully on many recent geopolitical and political events."

Last month more than 30 Harvard student groups responded to the Hamas attack by issuing a joint statement in which they wrote that they "hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence."

The statement, which was initiated by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and co-signed by 33 other Harvard student organizations, prompted an outpouring of criticism from federal lawmakers, university professors, and fellow students.

Harvard's administration was panned for its response — both for its initial silence on the Hamas attack and for its failure to forcefully denounce its student organizations when it finally responded to the inflammatory joint statement.

Gay ultimately released two statements in an effort to quell the outrage.

On Thursday, Gay wrote a letter to the Harvard community, addressing the campus tensions that have sprung up as Israel continues to wage war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"Harvard rejects all forms of hate, and we are committed to addressing them," she wrote. "Let me reiterate what I and other Harvard leaders have said previously: Antisemitism has no place at Harvard. While confronting any form of hatred is daunting, the challenges we face tackling antisemitism are made all the more so by its pernicious nature and deep historical roots. But we are committed to doing the hard work to address this scourge."