{shortcode-d5dcefac7527d2327fb5a79beba38260578a9cce}
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched an investigation into Harvard in late April, alleging that the University has engaged in discriminatory hiring practices in violation of Title VII since 2018, according to documents leaked to the Washington Free Beacon.
Andrea R. Lucas, the acting chair of the EEOC, filed a charge triggering the investigation on April 25. Harvard is actively under investigation by multiple other federal agencies — including the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, and the General Services Administration — for alleged Title VI violations.
While Title VI prohibits discrimination in programs and activities, Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
In the complaint, Lucas specifically cited 2023 hiring statistics that reflect an increase in the employment of women, non-binary people, and people of color throughout the University.
“There is reason to believe that these trends and the underlying pattern or practice of discrimination based on race and sex have continued in 2024 and are ongoing,” the commissioner’s charge read.
The information was drawn from demographic reports previously published on Harvard’s Faculty Development and Diversity webpage. The reports — which stretch back until 2005 — were removed from Harvard’s public site sometime after April 10 but are still available on web archives.
The EEOC accused Harvard of discriminating against “white, Asian, male, or straight employees, applicants, and training program participants” in hiring, promotion, compensation, and career development programs.
The charge extends to hiring practices across the University system, as well as programs by affiliates like the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital.
While the Free Beacon published the six-page commissioners’ charge on Monday,
an EEOC spokesperson refused to “confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation” in a statement to The Crimson.
The EEOC typically notifies the recipient of a charge within 10 days of the charge being filed, meaning the University should have received notification more than a week ago.
University spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment on whether Harvard has received the charge.
The EEOC alleged that statistics in the University’s annual demographic reports could constitute a “pattern or practice of discrimination based on race and sex.” The report highlighted that 44 percent of tenured faculty are “Women, Non-Binary, and/or People of Color,” with the percentage of women and faculty of color rising since 2013.
In the same timeframe, the percentage of white male faculty who received tenure, or were on the tenure track, decreased by approximately 10 percentage points.
The charge alleges that this report is evidence of potential hiring discrimination and “unlawful employment practices” on the part of the University.
Beyond faculty hiring practices, the EEOC’s investigation also extends into Harvard’s fellowships and training programs. The charge listed thirteen programs — including the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, Harvard Medical School’s Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program, and the Research Scholar Initiative at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences — that allegedly violate Title VII by prioritizing applicants of color.
The EEOC specifically called out “disparate treatment” in Harvard College’s Du Bois Scholars Program and the HMS Four Directions Summer Research Program.
The Du Bois Scholars Program, a paid summer research internship “for scholars from select R2 and research-focused historically Black colleges and universities,” launched in 2024 as a part of Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery initiative.
The Four Directions Summer Research Program, a paid summer opportunity offered by Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital “for talented Native American undergraduates,” extends back to the early 1980s.
The charge closes by stating that “aggrieved individuals” include applicants, participants, and employees who are “white, Asian, male, non-black, non-Native American, or straight.”
These individuals, according to the EEOC, “have been, continue to be, or may be in the future adversely affected by the unlawful employment practices complained of herein.”
The EEOC’s charge builds on the Trump administration’s earlier use of federal civil rights law to justify a $2.2 billion funding cut in April. The University announced they would sue the Trump administration over the funding freeze on April 21, days before the EEOC investigation was launched.
In his first public statement since the Department of Education announced it would no longer award grants to the University, Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 affirmed that the University bases its hiring decision on “merit and achievement.”
“We do not use diversity, equity, and inclusion statements in our hiring decisions,” he wrote.
“We hire people because of their individual accomplishments, promise, and creativity in their fields or areas of expertise, and their ability to communicate effectively with students, faculty, and staff.”
— Staff writer Ayaan Ahmad can be reached at ayaan.ahmad@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AyaanAhmad2024.
—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.
