Former Maryland governor withdraws from Harvard fellowships

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is withdrawing from a fellowship program at Harvard University, citing displays of anti-Semitism on campus in response to the Hamas attacks against Jewish civilians in Gaza.

Several months ago, Hogan was accepted into the Kennedy School of Politics and the Chan School of Public Health fellowship at the Ivy League school. In a Monday letter addressed to Harvard President Claudine Gay, the former governor said he could not condone what he characterized as “dangerous anti-Semitism that has taken root” at the university.

Hogan specifically cited the over two dozen student organizations he says attempted “to justify and celebrate Hamas’ terrorism against innocent Israeli and American civilians.”

Thirty-three Harvard student organizations co-signed a statement by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee stating they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence.”

As a result of the controversial statement, the students and organizations defending the attacks have come under heavy scrutiny from Wall Street leaders to lawmakers, vowing to blacklist the students – some going as far blacklisting the university.

In the letter, Hogan acknowledged the students’ rights to free speech while holding the university accountable for failing to denounce their hateful speech.

“While these students have a right to free speech, they do not have a right to have hate speech go unchallenged by your institution,” Hogan wrote. “Harvard’s failure to immediately and forcefully denounce the anti-Semitic vitriol from these students is in my opinion a moral stain on the University.”

Hogan concluded his letter by saying his decision to withdraw from the fellowship programs was not something he took lightly and hoped it would lead to “meaningful action.”

He wrote, “It is my hope that it may help further spur you to take meaningful action to address anti-Semitism and restore the values Harvard should represent to the world.”