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Harvard Law School

Harvard Law Students Targeted In Racist and Sexist Messages

Four Harvard Law students received racist and sexist messages earlier this year.
The Harvard Black Law Students Association released a statement Friday that stated the anonymous messages read in part, “We all hate u . . . at least you help with the curve” and “you know you don’t belong here . . . youre just here because of affirmative action.”
“We have repeatedly expressed to our students how deeply we regret the hurt these messages caused, and we condemned and continue to condemn in the strongest terms any communication or action that is intended to demean people,” Marcia Sells, Harvard Law’s dean of students, says in a statement.
In response, the law school enlisted the university’s police department and an outside law firm to investigate the messages. However, as the Boston Globe reports, school officials said Friday that they were unable to identify the perpetrators.
“Sadly, the realities of technology sometimes permit those who commit such acts to evade detection, and we are disappointed that we were unable to identify who is responsible despite our efforts along multiple fronts.”
ADMINISTRATION “FAILED TO ACT AND PROTECT STUDENTS”
Despite the efforts by the university to address the situation, the HBLSA says the university isn’t doing enough to respond to the situation.
“The targeted students relied on the administration’s promise when agreeing to a school-led investigation,” said the group in a statement. “Now, more than seven months since the first hateful message was sent, the sender of this message remains unidentified and free to continue harassing Black and women students, meanwhile the targeted students have been left to continue fearing for their safety.”
Sources: Boston Globe, Harvard Black Law Students Association, Harvard Crimson

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