The United States Department of Education opened a discrimination investigation into Harvard University and New York City’s Department of Education.
The inquiries revolve around complaints from Jewish and Muslim students who have alleged discrimination resulting from tensions over the War in Gaza. The news adds to the list of six colleges and one school district into which investigations were launched earlier this month.
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“We support the work of the Office of Civil Rights to ensure students’ rights to access educational programs are safeguarded and will work with the office to address their questions,” a Harvard spokesperson told Axios.
The Boston Globe, citing a letter from the department to the school, reported that the investigation was prompted by complaints from Jewish and Israeli students, who claimed that the school did not respond properly to complaints of harassment in October.
Colleges have struggled to adequately deal with tensions between Jewish and Muslim students following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack against Israel. While the Biden administration has been criticized similarly for not adequately handling the situation, its Department of Education has begun investigating student discrimination complaints.
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“Hate has no place in our schools, period,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told Axios in a statement earlier this month. “When students are targeted because they are — or are perceived to be — Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act to ensure safe and inclusive educational environments where everyone is free to learn.”
Cardona launched discrimination investigations into Lafayette College, Cornell University, Columbia University, Wellesley College, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and the University of Pennsylvania.
