Harvard Applications Decline Following Anti-Semitism Controversy

Authored by Eric Lundrum via American Greatness,

The prestigious Harvard University has seen a noticeable decrease in the number of applications to the school, after many months of controversy over the university’s handling of anti-Semitism on campus, as well as other controversies involving plagiarism and forced diversity.

According to Just The News, Harvard saw a 5% decrease in the number of applications between last year and this year.

While the class of 2027 saw about 57,000 applications for Harvard, the incoming class of 2028 saw about 54,000.

The controversy started in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attacks against Israel by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,400 Israelis. On the Harvard campus shortly thereafter, multiple demonstrations broke out in support of Hamas, which frequently featured anti-Semitic slurs and harassment of Jewish students.

After Congress launched an investigation into the university’s poor handling of anti-Semitism on campus, President Claudine Gay initially remained stubborn in her defense of the university’s conduct before eventually resigning from her position in January. It was later revealed that she had committed numerous acts of plagiarism over the course of her career.

Other elite universities have recorded a similar trend with regards to declining applications.

Brown University also saw a 5% decrease compared to last year, while the University of California Berkeley saw a 1% decrease in the same time period.

All three universities are currently being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education over discrimination against Jewish students on campus, in addition to the ongoing investigation by the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

"Let all of US higher education be warned: If you don’t kick the radicals off campus and off the school’s board, shut down the DEI offices and focus on offering an education worth the cost of tuition, you could be next," the New York Post wrote in an editorial Saturday. 

Despite the decline in applications, Just The News reports that Harvard's anti-Israel stance appears to still be strong.

The Harvard Law School Student Government passed a resolution last week calling for the school to divest from Israel and accusing the world's only Jewish-majority country of committing "genocide."