Revising and implementing policies, procedures, and training

Harvard and its Schools are enhancing training opportunities to address hate and bias, including specifically antisemitism and anti-Israeli bias, with more specialized training offerings planned for the 2025-26 academic year.

• Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Training. In the 2025-26 academic year, SEAS will hold programs on antisemitism and Islamophobia for staff, which will include historical and cultural context. The programs will be LinkedIn Learning Trainings developed by outside experts.
• Antisemitism and Anti-Islamic Bias Training at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In August 2025, student-facing personnel and school leadership attended in-person, intensive workshops led by outside experts on combatting antisemitism and anti-Islamic bias. Student leaders will take similar workshops in fall 2025. 
• New community education on preventing and responding to bias and harassment. August 2025, the University launched a required new e-learning course for students contains comprehensive information about the University’s Non-Discrimination Policy, Interim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy, and Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy as well as information about available resources and supports. Community members will learn how to recognize and respond to forms of bias and harm, including antisemitism, Islamophobia, sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct and other forms of bias. The e-learning module also reiterates that in assessing claims of antisemitism, the University, like the U.S. Department of Education, uses the working definition of antisemitism endorsed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA definition) and considers the examples that accompany the IHRA definition to the extent that those examples might be useful in determining discriminatory intent. A similar course for all other Harvard community members will be launched in September 2025.
  • Educational sessions on combating antisemitism. Harvard has already organized educational sessions on antisemitism for more than 200 faculty and administrators who participate in disciplinary processes at every School.
    • In October 2024, the College Dean of Students Office (DSO) provided training on combating antisemitism for all Tutors, Proctors, and Peer Advising Fellows.
    • In October 2024, Harvard hosted “Honoring our Shared Humanity: Countering Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias. This seminar for students explored the history of antisemitism and anti-Israeli racism. A key focus of the session was providing practical strategies to combat antisemitism and anti-Israeli biases on campus. The session aimed to foster more inclusive and equitable environments by addressing both interpersonal and systemic forms of discrimination.
    • Harvard Business School has instituted a pilot program with Project Shema, a training and support organization focused on addressing contemporary antisemitism, to offer antisemitism training to all MBA students.
    • Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences hosted a workshop in February 2025 on combating antisemitism.
    • Harvard’s Bok Center, which provides teaching and learning resources for faculty and students, offered a series of workshops on ways to incorporate training on combating antisemitism into educational sessions.

• Title VI Focused-Staff Members. In June 2025, the University hired a new staff member to serve as the University’s Title VI Coordinator and Secretary for Compliance. Additionally, the Office for Community Support, Non-Discrimination, Rights and Responsibilities (CSNDR)  hired a Deputy for Title VI and Title IX Compliance to support our network of local Title IX Resource Coordinators and Local Designated Resources and serve as a facilitator of informal resolutions. CSNDR is actively recruiting for a Deputy Title VI Coordinator and Case Manager to consult on complaints of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. Each of these new roles provide additional support and expertise to the Non-Discrimination Policy and Title IX Compliance Team.
• Training for CSNDR staff. All CSNDR staff reviewing complaints raising allegations of discrimination participated in specialized professional development training, provided by the Brandeis University President’s Initiative to Counter Antisemitism, focused on recognizing and combating antisemitism and understanding the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
• Leadership summits on antisemitism. In April 2024, more than 100 senior leaders at Harvard participated in an Inclusion & Belonging Leadership Summit: Committed to Combating Hate and Bias, which focused on antisemitism and other forms of hate. In September 2024, President Garber and leaders from other universities participated in a two-day College and University Presidents Summit on Campus Antisemitism hosted by Hillel International, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Council on Education.
• Antisemitism training for mental health professionals. Clinicians and staff from Harvard’s Counseling and Mental Health Services (CAMHS) have received cultural competency lectures from one of Harvard’s Jewish Chaplains to provide a deeper understanding of antisemitism and enable better care for students.

Harvard is working to strengthen the implementation of its policies and procedures related to complaints of discrimination.

• Establishment of Office for Community Support, Non-Discrimination, Rights and Responsibilities. To better serve our community, the University has created the Office for Community Support, Non-Discrimination, Rights and Responsibilities (CSNDR). CSNDR brings together the former Office for Gender Equity (OGE) and the Office for Community Conduct (OCC) under one umbrella and provides for greater efficiency, access, and integrated resources for the entire Harvard community – students, staff, faculty, and postdoctoral fellows. CSNDR is comprised of three teams – the confidential SHARE Team (Sexual Harassment/Assault Resources and Education), the Prevention Team, and the Non-Discrimination Policy and Title IX Compliance Team. In her message to the University announcing the new office, Director of CSNDR and University Title IX Coordinator Nicole Merhill reiterated: Discrimination and hate at Harvard—whether antisemitism, Islamophobia, sex-based discrimination or any other type of bias—will not be tolerated.
• Improvements to the Non-Discrimination Policy.   Harvard is actively working to improve the implementation of its Non-Discrimination Policy and Procedures and to ensure that Harvard community members understand how to report discrimination and access the support available to them.
• IHRA definition of antisemitism. In January 2025 the University issued guidance clarifying that its Non-Discrimination Policy uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (“IHRA”) definition of antisemitism and consider the examples accompanying the IHRA definition to the extent that those might be useful in determining discriminatory intent.  In Spring 2025, the University provided training on this guidance to those who receive and review complaints under the University’s Non-Discrimination and Anti-Bullying Policies (“NDAB”).
• Title VI office. Harvard has affirmed that the Office for Community Support, Non-Discrimination, Rights and Responsibilities (CSNDR) is Harvard’s Title VI office and clarified that the University’s Non-Discrimination Policy complies with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) guidance regarding Title VI.
• Action plan for Local Designated Resources (LDR) training. Harvard has prepared an action plan and training program for personnel charged with reviewing and evaluating complaints of discrimination to strengthen Harvard’s response to complaints of discrimination, which will be implemented during the 2025-2026 Academic Year.
• Annual Title VI report. Harvard will publicly reaffirm at least annually that antisemitism will not be tolerated and will, for the next five years, report annually on the University’s response to discrimination or harassment based on Title VI-protected traits and will provide transparency, consistent with state and federal privacy laws, regarding discipline outcomes in Title VI matters.

• Reviewing and updating disciplinary procedures.
  • In April 2025, Harvard’s governing boards empowered the President to call on a faculty panel of the UCRR to investigate, find facts, and impose discipline in cross-School cases involving alleged violations of the USRR or Campus Use Rules. This builds on steps taken regarding the UCRR in July 2024 that established procedures to standardize fact-finding investigations for incidents involving students from two or more Schools.
  • Following a review that began in October 2024, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences made recommendations, which have been adopted by the Dean, for updating the administrative (disciplinary) boards for Harvard College and the Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

• Anonymous reporting. Harvard continues to encourage affiliates to use the 24/7 reporting mechanisms to allow community members to report incidents of bias anonymously.

Harvard has implemented and refined various policies and guidance related to protest, dissent, and community standards to uphold both freedom of expression and the essential conditions for research, teaching and learning. These complementary efforts provide clarity for community members about how to effectively express their views while respecting shared academic spaces. This work is ongoing.

• Guidance on protest and dissent. In January 2024, the President and Deans issued new “Guidance on Protest and Dissent” (endorsed by the Corporation) that clarifies and makes more explicit rules regarding protest and dissent at Harvard. This includes making clear that demonstrations and protests are not permitted in classrooms and other spaces of instruction; libraries or other spaces designated for study, quiet reflection, and small group discussion; dormitories, residence halls, or dining halls where students live and take their meals; offices where the work of the University is carried out; or other places in which demonstrations and protests would interfere with the normal activities of the University.
• Campus use policies. In August 2024, the University announced, and the Corporation endorsed, updated Campus Use Rules that centralize existing regulations and provide clear guidelines that are intended to facilitate productive use of space and appropriate enforcement of policies. To enhance community safety and accountability, protest participants must show identification when asked to do so and must remove their face masks when showing identification.

• Library protest guidance. In November 2024, Harvard issued FAQs on Protests in Libraries explaining how the USRR applies to protests in Harvard’s libraries. The FAQs underscore, among other things, that silent protests “express[ing] a shared message … interfere with the room’s purpose as a place of study and research” and therefore violate the USRR. To protect these essential academic spaces, protest participants may have their library access privileges suspended and/or be referred to their School deans.

• Safety and security. Harvard has deployed additional law enforcement resources to protect students and ensure the safety of the entire community. The University has increased coordination between the Harvard University Police Department and local and federal law enforcement to assess and respond to any potential or actual threats to the Harvard community. When circumstances warrant, the University restricts access to Harvard Yard (the center of its Cambridge campus) to limit outside disruptions, better manage campus spaces, and ensure student safety.