Overview

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has launched a civil rights investigation into Harvard University’s hiring practices, focusing on alleged discrimination against white, Asian, male, and straight applicants.
• The investigation cites Harvard’s diversity data showing a 37% rise in non-white tenure-track faculty from 2013 to 2023, alongside a significant decrease in white male faculty during the same period.
• Harvard is also under scrutiny for fellowships and training programs that exclusively accept applicants from underrepresented minority groups, such as a Harvard Medical School internship.
• The EEOC investigation is part of a broader federal campaign targeting race-conscious diversity policies in higher education, following a 2023 Supreme Court ruling limiting affirmative action.
• Harvard is simultaneously contesting a $2.2 billion federal grant freeze imposed by the Justice Department and cooperating with multiple ongoing federal inquiries.