Beyond the adoption of the NDAB Policies in September 2023, the University has made significant improvements to related policies and guidance documents in order to clarify and affirm expectations for the ways in which community members will utilize campus space and engage with each other. For example, Harvard has issued or revised guidance on: doxxing, online harassment, online security, including providing information on resources available to community members experiencing these issues; protest and dissent, including making clear that demonstrations and protests are not permitted in classrooms, libraries, campus housing, dining halls, or University offices, among other places; campus use rules in order to facilitate productive use of space, appropriate enforcement of policies, and community safety; protests in libraries, including stating that silent protests “express[ing] a shared message … interfere with the room’s purpose as a place of study and research” and therefore violate the USRR; and subsequent updates to the NDAB Frequently Asked Questions to clarify that the policies incorporate the IHRA definition of antisemitism and consider the examples accompanying the IHRA definition to the extent they are helpful in determining discriminatory intent.

Harvard and its Schools have enhanced practices for fostering constructive dialogue and creating a learning environment that is safe and welcoming for all. For example, the Schools have been working to: define shared expectations for teaching excellence that include (i) maintaining appropriate focus on course subject matter, (ii) ensuring students are treated fairly regardless of their identity or political/religious beliefs, (iii) promoting intellectual openness and respectful dialogue, and (iv) maintaining appropriate professional boundaries in instructional settings by refraining from endorsing or advocating political positions in a manner that may cause students to feel pressure to demonstrate allegiance; enriching orientation and pre-orientation programming to develop skills for dialogue across difference; updating course evaluation forms across many of the Schools to elicit feedback from students on instructors’ ability to encourage competing viewpoints and an environment conducive to learning; adopting Chatham House Rules which seek to encourage constructive dialogue and the airing of diverse views in the classroom without pressure to conform to a particular stance; and requiring that new Teaching Fellows and Teaching Assistants attend Pedagogy-in-Practice training at the Bok Center, which teaches them how to ensure the classroom is a place to explore different and competing views on complex questions. 

The below summary contains the University’s first Annual Report of Harvard’s responses to discrimination or harassment based on protected characteristics under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”), with descriptions of each formal complaint of discrimination received under the NDAB Policies including the concern raised, the protected characteristics identified by the person who raised the concern (“Reporter”), as well as outcomes associated with each formal complaint. This report is part of the University’s ongoing efforts to understand the concerns of community members and continuously improve our response to such concerns.

The Annual Report includes data from most of Fiscal Year 2024 (September 1, 2023, the date the NDAB Policies went into effect, through June 30, 2024), Fiscal Year 2025 (July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025), and the first half of Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025)³ (collectively, “Reporting Period”). Of note, the overwhelming majority of data presented predates the formation of CSNDR.

The Annual Report divides data into two categories: (i) reports, which are matters that were brought to the attention of an LDR, the former OCC, or CSNDR’s Compliance and Response Team, involving alleged acts of discrimination and/or bullying committed by any member of the Harvard community and that did not proceed to the formal complaint stage, and (ii) formal complaints, which are matters that proceeded through, at least, the initial review process. 

Significant efforts are taken to address concerns prior to a matter reaching the formal complaint stage. As a result, most issues and concerns are resolved through supportive measures and/or informal resolution and do not result in the impacted party filing a formal complaint. 

A formal complaint is a statement filed by a current Harvard community member alleging a violation of the NDAB Policies by another Harvard community member and requesting that the University conduct an investigation. Consistent with the NDAB Policies, a formal complaint proceeds to the investigation stage if the LDR determines that the complaint on its face alleges a potential violation of the NDAB Policies. For each formal complaint during the Reporting Period that proceeded to investigation, a trained investigator was assigned to the matter.

The following charts illustrate the total number of formal complaints received between September 1, 2023, and December 31, 2025, broken down by: 1. the University status of the person filing the complaint (“Complainant”), and 2. the University status of the person against whom the complaint is filed (“Respondent”). For complaints with multiple respondents and complainants from different Schools or units, the complaint is counted once for each individual complainant or respondent.

Of the 50 formal complaints of discrimination received between September 1, 2023, and December 31, 2025, 10 alleged a violation of the NDAB Policies and were opened for investigation, 9 fell outside the jurisdiction of the NDAB Policies and were referred to other University offices or partner institutions, 6 fell outside the jurisdiction of the NDAB Policies and also failed to meet the threshold for a policy violation, and in the remaining 25 cases, the LDR determined that the allegations did not meet the threshold for a policy violation or were already handled by the University in another forum, but remained available to provide support to the impacted community member. 

Of the 50 formal complaints of discrimination, 62% identified shared ancestry and national origin (including antisemitism and Islamophobia) as relevant protected characteristics. The table that follows contains information on each formal complaint received during the Reporting Period. When analyzing those complaints and the overall data on all reports received during this period, key themes emerged, including:

• Fifty-two percent of formal complaints involving shared ancestry and national origin involved antisemitism and/or anti-Israel bias. 
• All community members who raised concerns of discrimination (including discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry) or bullying to an LDR, OCC, or CSNDR’s Compliance and Response Team were offered supportive measures, and many accessed at least one supportive measure.
• Across the University, supportive measures offered and accepted, and training, education, or other school/unit-level responses were consistent across protected characteristics⁵  and schools/units.⁶ 

¹ Many of these robust efforts are described on Harvard’s public website, which is regularly updated so that the community can track the University’s progress. See Harvard Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias and Presidential Task Force of Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias: Progress on Actions: https://www.harvard.edu/task-force-on-antisemitism/progress-on-actions/. 

²  LDRs are representatives from each school and unit who serve as resources for receiving reports and complaints, directing community members to resources, and providing information on supportive measures.

³  Patterned bars within the charts reflect the partial fiscal year of July 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.

⁴  14 of the 204 total reports above involved non-community members or anonymous reporters, and as such, have been removed from the data reflected in this section. 

⁵ For purposes of this data, the term "sexual assault" refers to such allegations under any of the applicable University sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct policies. 

⁶ This report does not break out data by School or unit because the numbers are so small that doing so would violate FERPA and raise employee privacy concerns.