Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) recently announced his withdrawal from two Harvard fellowship programs, citing “anti-Semitic vitriol” on America’s most “elite” university following Hamas’, a terrorist organization, invasion of Israel.
Months ago, Hogan had accepted fellowships at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, according to Newsmax.
Before announcing his withdrawal from the fellowships, Hogan wrote a letter to Harvard University, which he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, expressing his interest in “sharing leadership lessons with the next generation of leaders at Harvard.”
Moments later, Hogan said he would “regretfully” withdraw his participation from the fellowships after over 30 student organizations based in Harvard denounced Israel.
“I cannot condone the dangerous anti-Semitism that has taken root on your campus,” Hogan wrote on X. “This horrific terrorist attack was the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust and it should be universally condemned as exactly what it is: Pure evil.”
This morning, I informed @Harvard that I must withdraw my offer to participate in fellowships this Fall. I cannot condone the dangerous anti-Semitism that has taken root on their campus. pic.twitter.com/s60iqsJaaD
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) October 23, 2023
Among the untruthful statements shared by the student organizations include one reading, “Today’s events did not occur in a vacuum. For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison. Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced.”
The student’s statement was denounced by many, with CEOs vowing not to hire the students upon graduation.
On Oct. 9, 2023, two days after Hamas’ brutal invasion of Israel, Harvard President Claudine Gay condemned the terrorist organization and emphasized that the students do not speak on behalf of the university.
“Let me also state, on this matter as on others, that while our students have the right to speak for themselves, no student group — not even 30 student groups — speaks for Harvard University or its leadership,” she wrote. “We will all be well served in such a difficult moment by rhetoric that aims to illuminate and not inflame.”
In his letter, Hogan later added that although the students have the right to speak their minds, “they do not have a right to have hate speech go unchallenged” by Harvard University.
“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,” he wrote. “This is not a decision I have taken lightly, but 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.”
