Trump officials have demanded that Harvard University provide them with a copy of a long-awaited report on antisemitism on its campus. It’s the latest salvo in a rapidly escalating confrontation between the Trump administration and the school.
In a letter obtained by The Free Press, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights set forth a series of demands, including that they be sent any reports written by Harvard University’s antisemitism task force, any drafts of those reports, and the names of anyone involved in “preparing and editing the report.”
The letter was sent almost a week after Harvard president Alan Garber said the school would not comply with a list of sweeping demands from the Trump administration. The administration retaliated by pulling $2.2 billion in funding. On Wednesday, the administration asked the Internal Revenue Service to start the process of revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
The demand is only the latest controversy for Harvard’s antisemitism task force, a committee that has been plagued by problems throughout its short existence.
Foremost among them: its failure to deliver a report. The task force had originally said they would publish their findings in the “early fall” of 2024, yet the report has still not been released. The report is meant to detail all occurrences of antisemitism at the university.