school will punish calls for Jewish genocide

Harvard’s president insisted the Ivy League school would punish calls for genocide against Jews on campus – an apparent backtrack from congressional testimony where she repeatedly refused to explicitly denounce antisemitic behavior at the university.

“There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students,” President Pauline Gay said in a statement on Harvard’s official X account Wednesday.

“Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”

Just a day before, during heated testimony to the House Education Committee about antisemitism on college campuses since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Gay refused to answer “Yes” when asked by Harvard alumna and House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated school policies against bullying and harassment.

“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay answered, adding “…Antisemitic rhetoric, when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation, that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.”

But when pressed by Stefanik to confirm with a “Yes” that calls for Jewish genocide were unacceptable, Gay would not.

“Again, it depends on the context,” the president said.

Harvard has been embroiled in controversy for the past two months as administrators have struggled to address pro-Palestinian protesters who have accosted Jewish students and marched with phrases like “Intifada” and “From the river to the sea,” both of which are often interpreted as calls for mass violence against Jews.

During her testimony, Gay defended the school’s response as a commitment to free speech.

“I have sought to confront hate while preserving free expression,” she said. “Speech that incites violence, threatens safety, or violates Harvard’s policies against bullying and harassment is unacceptable.”

The testimony drew criticism as high up as the White House.

“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country,” White House senior communications adviser and deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.