Overview

• HHS’ Office for Civil Rights initiated formal suspension and debarment proceedings that could bar Harvard from federal grants and contracts government-wide.
• OCR said an HHS administrative law judge would determine whether Harvard violated Title VI by responding with deliberate indifference to antisemitic harassment, if the university requests a hearing within 20 days.
• The action builds on a June notice of violation that relied in part on Harvard’s own antisemitism report and follows a July referral of the matter to the Department of Justice.
• A federal judge in Boston recently ruled the administration’s prior termination of billions in Harvard research funds unlawful, and some of that money has begun flowing back.
• Harvard has rejected the government’s conclusions and said it has worked to combat antisemitism, while HHS noted the referral does not affect a separate inquiry into the Harvard Law Review.