Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has arguably been the most vocal lawmaker when it comes to holding Harvard and other Ivy League universities accountable with regard to the anti-Semitism that is festering on campuses. Her questioning of then-Harvard president Claudine Gay, as well as the heads of UPenn and MIT, became the most viewed congressional hearing in the history of Congress. But more than that, she has gotten results - with two out of the three university presidents gone (MIT's Sally Kornbluth remains). While Gay is no more, there is still a considerable amount of work left to root out the anti-Semitism on campus.
On Thursday, Stefanik brought another issue the school is failing to adequately address to the forefront. In a letter to Harvard leadership, she pressed interim president Alan Garber and Harvard Corporation senior fellow Penny Pritzker about the disciplinary actions against students who accosted a Jewish student during a "die-in" event on Oct. 18 to protest Israel's retaliatory strikes against Hamas over the Oct. 7 terror attack.
Harvard pursued an independent investigation of the incident through a law firm, which met with the victim's legal representation in January to obtain the video evidence from the incident.
"Further information shows that local prosecutors are currently in the process of negotiating court dates with two of the Harvard students who assaulted the victim," she wrote. "On March 25, Holtzman Vogel [the firm representing the victim] learned that the 'Clerk's Hearing' in the criminal case has been postponed to May 7. One of the assailants in the incident, a Harvard Divinity School graduate student, is scheduled to graduate in May 2024. Due to this postponement, the assailant will gain the lifelong distinction of being an alumnus of Harvard despite having committed a well-documented antisemitic hate crime against a fellow student."
Stefanik argued justice should've been served swiftly and the delay, which allows this anti-Semitic student to graduate, "is an affront to accountability and demonstrates the cultural rot of Harvard University's leadership..."
She said this incident is a "disgusting" example of Harvard protecting Jew-hating students. "As an alumna of Harvard University, allowing this student to gain the title of Harvard graduate disgraces all who have come before him and erodes the distinction of a once sought after degree."
The letter comes after the university released data showing a more than 5 percent drop in applications from the year prior.