Harvard Faces Federal Investigation Amid Race Discrimination Claims

On Monday, the Trump administration said it would check Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review for possible race-based discrimination. They are looking into complaints that the Law Review’s processes unfairly favor certain races in their article selections. This investigation is happening because Harvard is currently losing $2.2 billion in federal grants after refusing to limit protests and activism on campus.

A letter from the government said that Harvard needs to explain its policies on campus speech and change any academic programs that are accused of encouraging anti-Semitism. Officials pointed out concerns over how the Harvard Law Review chooses which articles to publish, with one editor saying it was worrying that most people wanting to respond to a piece on police reform were “white men.” There were even claims that one article was fast-tracked for publication because the author was a minority.

Craig Trainor, a key official for Civil Rights, said that Harvard cannot ignore the law when it comes to accepting students or articles based on race. This situation highlights a larger trend where universities, especially Ivy League schools, are being scrutinized for their responses to pro-Palestinian protests and allegations of anti-Semitism on campus. Harvard is just one of several prestigious institutions facing pressure to comply with new federal demands.