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Harvard Medical School submitted documentation to the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights in cooperation with a Title VI antidiscrimination investigation into pro-Palestine student activism at the school’s 2024 commencement.

HHS notified Harvard Medical School of the investigation in a Feb. 3 letter, and gave school officials 30 days to provide their account of the protest and actions they took in preparation to prevent discrimination, including any written or verbal communications with security personnel and law enforcement.

An HMS spokesperson confirmed that the school submitted a response addressing “all requests from the Feb. 3 letter” and was “cooperating with the compliance review.”

The requested documents include a list of all HMS employees who witnessed the May 2024 commencement ceremony or may have had prior knowledge of the protests.

According to the Feb. 3 letter, the investigation was prompted by a January article in the New York Post reporting findings that HMS students wore stoles that displayed the Palestinian flag, a keffiyeh, and an empty map of Israel at commencement.

Medical schools at Columbia University, Brown University, and Johns Hopkins University are also under investigation for similar Title VI violations over reports of discrimination of antisemitism during their commencement ceremonies.

A February press release from HHS announcing the investigation alleged that the displays were “offensive” and included “expressions of support for terrorist organizations.” The letter asked HMS to include information about “whether Jewish students were subjected to severe and discriminatory harassment” during the ceremony.

HHS declined to comment for this article, citing a policy against commenting on ongoing investigations.

In accordance with the investigation, HMS was asked to provide written confirmation that the requested documents had been turned over to the Office of Civil Rights and had not been destroyed, modified, or removed.

In recent months, HMS has been at the center of battles over federal funding and debate over antisemitism and suppression of pro-Palestinian speech.

Just three days after HHS launched their investigation into antisemitism at the school, nearly 200 Harvard affiliates accused the medical school of creating a “hostile environment” for Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims when the school cancelled a panel with patients from Gaza.

The February press release explicitly referenced the Medical School’s federal funding, which is conditioned on compliance with civil rights laws like Title VI.

The Medical School’s funding is also at risk as part of a separate Trump administration investigation into the University-wide response to antisemitism. Last week, the White House threatened nearly $9 billion in long-term government grants and contracts, most of which is tied to HMS-affiliated hospitals.

The HHS spokesperson declined to comment on the investigation’s timeline.

—Staff writer Graham W. Lee can be reached at graham.lee@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @grahamwonlee.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at elise.spenner@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @EliseSpenner.