Christian Alumni Push Harvard Leadership to 'Protect Jews, Truth, and Freedom'
In a letter released yesterday, Professor Robert George and other Harvard alumni call for greater viewpoint diversity on campus.
Yesterday, a group of Christian alumni and academics published an open letter urging Harvard to protect Jewish students and restore viewpoint diversity on campus. The letter comes amidst escalating tensions on campus. Pro-Palestinian student protestors have established an encampment in Harvard Yard to protest Harvard’s financial ties to Israel. At peer institutions, antisemitism and violence associated with these encampments have led to concerns about Jewish students' safety.
The alumni letter condemns Harvard’s failure to “provide a robust response” to antisemitism following the October 7th massacre. Rooted in the authors’ Christian faith, it encourages the Harvard community to “honor the image of God in all men and women” across religious and denominational divides. Co-authors include Robert George, MTS ‘81, JD ‘81, now a professor at Princeton; former Harvard Graduate Chaplain Kelly Kullberg; Emily Kao ‘96, JD ‘99; and Arseny James Melnick, GSAS ‘77.
Signatories list three demands, reprinted here from their letter:
Add concerned alumni to the Presidential Task Forces on Combating Anti-Semitism.
Improve viewpoint diversity by rooting out all discrimination against Christians, Jews, and other people of faith in hiring faculty.
Restore an environment in which Jews, Christians, Muslims, and, indeed, all members of the Harvard community are welcome to engage in truth-seeking (including moral truth-seeking) and robust debate without fear or favor.
Authors allege that Harvard has facilitated the spread of “ignorance, prejudice, and abuse.” They cite the absence of conservative thought among students and faculty, a lack of free speech, and efforts to sanction academics like Dr. Carole Hooven and Professor Tyler Vanderweele for breaking from the dominant leftist narrative. They also argue that these incidents were motivated not just by anti-conservative but specifically anti-religious bias.
National media, as well as Salient authors, have frequently pointed out how the spread of left-wing ideas and the stifling of conservative viewpoints has contributed to antisemitism on campus. Implicit in the left’s oppressor-oppressed narrative is that it is acceptable for supposedly marginalized groups to target those deemed on top of the hierarchy—in this case, Jews and Christians.
In a press release, signatories also claimed that Harvard’s culture is one “in which the search for truth, goodness, and beauty is not possible,” and this breeds “the abuse of vulnerable groups.” Kullberg, who co-founded the Veritas Forum, added that “Harvard’s advocacy of Progressive [sic] ideology… is in rebellion against its founders and mission.”
The letter does not call for the university to choose sides in the international conflict. Instead, it asks that Harvard focuses on protecting students of all faiths so that “students can seek the truth without fearing marginalization, ostracism, and punishment.” Moreover, it seeks constructive change to prevent the racial animus we see acutely today.
The full letter is available here.