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(A7) Harvard’s early admission applications have slid to a four-year low as the university continues to face backlash for its administration’s unwillingness to condemn antisemitism on campus, The New York Post reported Sunday.
Harvard saw a 17% drop in applications from students applying through early admission, with just 7,921 high school seniors seeking to secure their spot, compared to the 9,553 that did so last year, according to figures released by the university.
That is the smallest figure since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but still exceeds the number of early applications submitted each year from 2017 through 2019, noted The New York Post.
In comparison, Yale University counted 7,856 early applications this year — a 1.4% increase from last year and the second-highest number in the school’s history.
The University of Pennsylvania, which has also come under fire after its former president failed to assert that calls for genocide of Jews constituted harassment under its code of conduct, saw 500 more applications than just one year prior, Bloomberg reports.
Harvard President Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and MIT President Sally Kornbluth all came under fire for their testimony during a contentious House hearing on campus antisemitism. The university presidents danced around a question from Rep. Elise Stefanik on whether calls for the genocide of Jews violate university policies.
Magill resigned following the backlash over the comments, while Gay has apologized for the remarks, telling The Harvard Crimson in an interview, “I am sorry. Words matter.”
Despite continued calls for Gay to be dismissed, even after her apology, Harvard lasts week reaffirmed its support for Gay’s continued leadership of the university.
Early admissions applications at Harvard were due on Nov. 1 — one month before the congressional testimony by the university presidents.
But at that point, noted The New York Post, Harvard had already been facing more than three weeks of turmoil after more than 30 student groups signed a letter claiming Israel was “entirely responsible” for Hamas’ October 7 attack against it.
The university also faced criticism as leaders waited to issue a statement condemning the attack and antisemitism on campus, with more than 1,600 alumni threatening to halt donations to the school.
“We continue to attract applications from a diverse range of secondary schools and communities around the world,” Harvard Director of Admissions Joy St. John said in a statement quoted by The New York Post.
