Five Harvard Business School alumni, including U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney and hedge fund manager Seth Klarman, have accused Harvard of neglecting the safety of Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
In an open letter published on Monday, alumni cited “threatening” demonstrations and said Jewish students were locking themselves in dormitories out of fear for their safety. Romney, Klarman and three co-signers urged Harvard to “reaffirm and enforce the University’s existing Code of Ethical Conduct for students, employees and faculty.”
“As the situation intensifies, your silence is both shocking and disturbing,” they wrote in an “open letter to Harvard leadership regarding anti-Semitism on campus” to Harvard President Claudine Gay and other school leaders. “Given that Harvard has been a strong advocate for the rights of students from other religious, racial and ethnic groups, this silence is deafening amid the rapid rise in anti-Semitism.”
The letter adds fuel to a dispute over Hamas’ handling of an escalation of violence in the Middle East that followed an attack on Israel earlier this month. Former Harvard University President Larry Summers said he was dismayed by Harvard’s initial silence after more than 30 student groups issued statements blaming Israel instead of Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Feel angry.
Harvard declined to comment on the letter. In a subsequent statement, Gay condemned the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas. At an alumni reunion event on Monday, she again condemned anti-Semitism and said she was “100 percent committed to ensuring that Jewish life thrives on our campuses.”
On Thursday, about 500 pro-Palestinian protesters walked out of their classrooms and marched through Harvard’s campuses. according to Harvard Crimson. The student newspaper said it was the third pro-Palestinian protest on campus since the outbreak of war between Israel and Gaza. The Crimson made no mention of violence or arrests at the demonstrations.
According to statements backed by Klarman and Romney, an Israeli student was recently attacked on the Harvard Business School campus.Signatories of the open letter also include Joanna Jacobson, Bill Herman and Mark Nunnally.
“Free speech should be respected, but hate, threats and violence against students and staff are expressly prohibited,” they said.
In the letter, they urged Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to check protesters’ student ID cards and bar entry to any outsiders. Most recently, the university temporarily banned access to parts of campus to those without Harvard ID cards, but access is currently not restricted.
Alumni also said protesters should not be allowed to cover their faces. They called for a semester-long course that teaches “productive discourse, critical thinking, and questioning of facts so that students learn to argue through reasoned inquiry.”
Klarman, who heads the Baupost Group, and his wife, Beth, donated money to have the Harvard Business School building named in their honor. He and other alumni did not discuss donations in their letter. Romney, a Utah Republican who served as governor of Harvard’s home state of Massachusetts, co-founded and led Boston-based Bain Capital before launching a political career. He is the 2012 Republican presidential candidate.
At least two billionaire donors, Idan Ofer and Leslie Wexner, have withdrawn their support from Harvard University.
Harvard was not the only college campus in the United States to be embroiled in war controversy. Donors to the University of Pennsylvania are calling for the president’s resignation, while Stanford University has suspended a faculty member over allegations that students were targeted because of their identity in a Middle East conflict.
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