Harvard President apologizes over reports of antisemitism, islamophobia on campus

Harvard University President Alan Garber has issued a public apology following the release of two internal reports that uncovered pervasive antisemitic and anti-Muslim bias within the Ivy League institution. 

The findings, which include deeply personal testimonies from students, reveal a campus climate where some felt compelled to hide their religious and cultural identities.

“I’m sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Dr Garber said in a letter accompanying the reports on Tuesday. “Harvard cannot – and will not – abide bigotry.”

The reports were commissioned in response to the fallout from pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year, sparked by the Israel-Gaza war. The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent military response by Israel in Gaza led to heightened tensions and exposed deep rifts within the university’s diverse student body.

According to Dr Garber, the events “unleashed long-simmering tensions” and left students feeling “targeted and shunned on the basis of their identities.”

 Some Muslim and Jewish students described being alienated or pressured to conceal their backgrounds by both peers and educators.

As part of its response, Harvard pledged a review of its academic offerings and admissions policies—a key demand from the White House, which has accused the university of failing to tackle campus antisemitism. Among the proposed measures, Harvard said it would revise its admissions criteria to assess applicants’ abilities to engage constructively with differing viewpoints and participate in civil discourse.

However, these steps appear to fall short of the Biden administration’s expectations. Federal officials have called for a complete end to race- and origin-based admissions preferences, and are pushing for a merit-only system by August. The Trump administration has gone further, threatening to bar Harvard from enrolling international students and revoke its tax-exempt status if it does not comply.

In a move that has intensified the standoff, Harvard has sued the federal government to block the proposed measures, arguing that withholding more than $2 billion in academic grants constitutes an infringement of the university’s constitutional rights. Harvard lawyers claim the federal government is using funding as “leverage to gain control of academic decision making.”

Dr Garber, who is Jewish, revealed in a previous letter to students that he has personally experienced antisemitism—even during his time as president—though he did not elaborate on specific incidents. “It led me to understand how damaging it can be to a student,” he wrote.

As the university works to repair trust and demonstrate its commitment to inclusion, the controversy underscores growing national tensions over free expression, identity politics, and the role of higher education in an increasingly polarized society.