Image by getty images

(JTA) — Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said the university was wrong to rescind the admissions of several students who posted offensive messages on a private Facebook group.

The messages reportedly mocked the Holocaust, sexual assault and domestic terrorism, among other topics.

“Punishing students academically for their political views or their personal values is a serious mistake,” Dershowitz, who had not seen the messages before he was interviewed, told the Boston Globe.  “These actions are not consistent with the spirit of the First Amendment.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Judging other people’s humor, even in the worst taste, just strikes me as somewhat dangerous,” he said, suggesting that it might have been better to require the admitted students to discuss the matter with an adviser.

The rescinded admissions were first reported by the university’s student newspaper, The Crimson

Two unnamed incoming freshmen whose admissions were not rescinded told The Crimson that the Facebook group, first titled “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens,” was formed in late December as a breakaway from a general messaging group for the newly admitted class.

Harvard administrators revoked admissions offers to at least ten participants in mid-April after discovering the existence of the group. The university did not respond to requests from The Crimson or the Globe to comment on the issue.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount