Act of Self-Sabotage

Last week, I was among hundreds of researchers at Harvard University who received termination notices for our federal research grants.

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Mine was for a project to study electrical signaling between neurons in the brain. My lab’s research has led to progress in treatments for pain, epilepsy, and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). We have been working to map the physiological basis of memory, enabling new ways to study Alzheimer’s disease. All our work is available for the public to see.

I am a long-time member of the Harvard community (18 years on the faculty, plus four years as an undergraduate), and I am visibly and proudly Jewish. The government's decision to withhold federal funding in the name of combating antisemitism is wrong, bad for Jews everywhere, and terrible for the United States.

Yes, antisemitism on campus is real and must be confronted. Harvard’s recent report on the matter documents harrowing incidents of bias and harassment. But in my 22 years here, I have never personally encountered antisemitism. From many conversations with Jewish students and colleagues, I am confident that Harvard is and has been a welcoming and supportive home for the vast majority. The problem of antisemitism is serious but not systemic.

A proportionate and effective response requires local knowledge and nuanced leadership, exactly the sort that Harvard's president, Alan Garber, provides. His Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, and the parallel Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias, studied these problems extensively and provided strong recommendations that strike a thoughtful balance between the sometimes-competing demands of free speech and protections against harassment. Some are already being implemented.