Harvard Ignored Advice From Its Anti-Semitism Advisory Group, House Committee Finds

Five of the advisory group’s eight members threatened to resign en masse less than 10 days after the group’s formation.

Protesters hold signs in support of Palestine “resistance” during a rally at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on Oct. 14, 2023. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

A new congressional report based on Harvard University’s internal communications suggests that the Ivy League school repeatedly ignored recommendations of its Antisemitism Advisory Group (AAG), a situation that at one point caused a majority of the group’s members to threaten to resign en masse.

The final report, released Wednesday by the House Education and the Workforce Committee, detailed an internal conflict between former Harvard President Claudine Gay and the advisory group she created to combat antisemitism on campus.

Recommendations Not Taken

Ms. Gay, whose initial response to the Hamas terror attacks on Israel drew intense backlash from students, high-profile donors, and Harvard-educated lawmakers, founded the group in late October to “frame an agenda and strategy for combating anti-Semitism.”