On the evening of Feb. 20, Harvard University Interim President Alan M. Garber ’76 released a statement “unequivocally condemning the posting and sharing” of an anti-semitic cartoon by the Palestine Solidarity Committee and African American Resistance Organization.
The cartoon, which was part of a newsletter circulated during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, depicts nooses wrapped around the necks of two men who are held by a hand imprinted with the Star of David with a dollar sign in the center. The cartoon is captioned “Third World Liberation Movement.” The student groups released a joint statement on Feb. 20 apologizing for sharing the cartoon.
“The inclusion of the offensive caricature was an unprompted, painful error—a combination of ignorance and inadequate oversight,” the statement read. “It never should have been published to begin with. We wholeheartedly apologize for the immense harm we caused.”
The incident occurred just over a month after six Harvard students sued the University, calling it “a bastion of rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment.” The lawsuit was filed by two law firms, one of which, Kasowitz Benson Torres, filed similar lawsuits against New York University in November and the University of Pennsylvania in December.
Now, 10 Harvard graduates have filed a federal lawsuit against the University for degree devaluation. The lawsuit alleges that the value of a Harvard degree is determined by the present reputation of the University, rather than the graduation year of the job applicant.
“The value of a Harvard degree has been significantly diminished, rendering it functionally damaged in the professional and academic spheres,” the lawsuit states.
Employers have already expressed hesitancy to hire out of Harvard. This past December, in the wake of Former President Claudine Gay’s heavily scrutinized congressional testimony, plaintiff law firm Edelson PC informed Harvard Law School that they would no longer participate in campus recruiting at Harvard. In their letter to HLS, Edelson said they had previously considered HLS, as well as Yale and Stanford, as primary institutions for recruiting.
“It must be unequivocally clear that calls for the genocide of any group—be it on the basis of religion, race, gender, disability, or sexual orientation—are indefensible and contrary to the values we uphold,” Edelson said in a letter to Jesse Ohrenberger, Director of Recruitment and Operations at HLS.
“As lawyers, we know that words can be powerful. Dr. Gay was in a position to help lead the
country. She did the very opposite.”
The group of graduates suing for degree devaluation alleges that Harvard has refused to enforce its policies intended to protect students from hate speech on campus.
“While the campus devolved over the years from one of tolerance to its present state, Harvard has done nothing to address and halt this egregiousness and stop the rampant antisemitism on campus and in classrooms,” the lawsuit reads. “Harvard, instead, has permitted, even sanctioned, pro-Hamas rallies
at which antisemitic slogans were shouted and refused to enforce its policies to protect Jewish
students.”
The lawsuit demands that Harvard “rehabilitate the value of a Harvard degree by taking remedial measures” including the termination of deans, administrators, professors, and other employees who have been complicit in antisemitism on Harvard’s campus, as well as the suspension or expulsion of students involved in hate speech and other acts of antisemitism.
“Plaintiffs also seek restitution for the financial costs associated with having attended Harvard and compensatory damages for the reputational damage to and thus reduced value of their Harvard degrees,” the lawsuit states. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the total cost of attending Harvard while living in its dorms was $79,450. The University has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
In the midst of an ever-tense campus climate, Harvard students have found themselves in uncharted territory. Harvard students have long been notorious for flaunting their alma mater at any opportunity, even prompting Dean of Harvard College Rakesh Khurana to offer the advice in an interview with The Crimson: “Don’t gratuitously drop the H-Bomb.” Now, they are more hesitant, say the 10 graduates.
“Plaintiffs are in a situation they never imagined: they are ashamed to say they went to Harvard.”
Jonah Karafiol ’26 (jonahkarafiol@college.harvard.edu) is the News Editor of the Independent.