Harvard “failed to act” over allegedly racist and sexist anonymous messages, says student group

Harvard University “woefully failed to act” in determining who sent anonymous offensive messages to four students, The Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) have said in a statement.

The students at Harvard Law School this year, two of whom are black, separately received “hateful, racist and sexist” messages from an anonymous sender.

Comments in the messages included “we all hate u”, “you know you don’t belong here” and “you’re just here because of affirmative action”.

The HBLSA has criticised both the school’s lack of transparency and inability to determine the source of the messages.

HBLSA said in its statement: “Now, more than seven months since the first hateful message was sent, the sender of this message remains unidentified and free to continue harassing black and women students, meanwhile the targeted students have been left to continue fearing for their safety.”

The group added: “It is an injustice that these students suffered and continue to experience the burden of these additional stressors in an already stressful academic environment.

“We applaud the affected students for remaining strong and sharing their story with the public.

Time and again, it seems as though Harvard only responds when marginalized students’ demands for safety and protection are backed by external pressure

– The Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA)

“Time and again, it seems as though Harvard only responds when marginalized students’ demands for safety and protection are backed by external pressure.”

Harvard officials stated the case was investigated by university police, information technology officials and an external law firm hired by the school.

A spokesman from Harvard Law School said: “Sadly, the realities of technology sometimes permit those who commit such acts to evade detection and we are disappointed that we were unable to identify who is responsible despite our efforts along multiple fronts.”

The school further responded by stating that student privacy laws prevent the details of the investigation being shared.

“For reasons of student privacy and confidentiality reflected in federal law and HLS practice, Harvard Law School will not publicly disclose details of investigations,” clarified Marcia Sells, the dean of students.

“This practice is designed to protect the respective rights of all parties involved in any investigation,” she added.

Sadly, the realities of technology sometimes permit those who commit such acts to evade detection and we are disappointed that we were unable to identify who is responsible despite our efforts along multiple fronts

– Harvard Law School spokesman

The HBLSA further stated that victims had relied on the administration’s alleged promise to reveal the findings of the investigation when they agreed to a school investigation.

The HBLSA believes that the offensive messages came from another student or students, and were allegedly sent from “retailer display phones” and two anonymous Gmail accounts. Harvard officials state that it has not been confirmed whether messages came from other students.

Marcia Sells further stated that the school’s administrators “continue to condemn in the strongest terms any communication or action that is intended to demean people”.

HBLSA concluded their statement by urging Harvard Law School adopt Reclaim Harvard Law School’s Fourth Demand “in the spirit of working towards a more diverse and inclusive campus climate”.

The Fourth Demand states: “Establish the Office of Diversity & Inclusion and implement other institutional changes aimed at curtailing organizational hierarchy and injustice against students, staff, and faculty. The Office should be established with meaningful staff and student input and transparency.”