After Criticism, Harvard Dean Reverses Course on Fellowship for Human-Rights Leader

The Harvard Kennedy School has granted Kenneth Roth, the recently retired executive director of Human Rights Watch, a fellowship at its Carr Center for Human Rights Policy — after allegations that Roth was initially denied the position because of his former organization’s anti-Israel stance.

Douglas Elmendorf, dean of the school, announced the reversal on Thursday in an email to students, faculty, and staff. Roth said in a statement that he was “thrilled” by the decision and plans to accept the position.

“I am grateful to the Kennedy School faculty as well as many other faculty and students at Harvard and around the world for their overwhelming disapproval of Dean Elmendorf’s original decision,” Roth said in the statement. “That broad disapproval undoubtedly yielded this change of heart.”

Still, Roth and others called for more transparency about why the dean initially vetoed the appointment. Roth also said he’d like to see the university and the Kennedy School make clear their commitment to academic freedom. Over the last 10 days, some scholars called on Elmendorf to resign over the controversy.

“Given my three decades leading Human Rights Watch, I was able to shine an intense spotlight on Dean Elmendorf’s decision, but what about others?” Roth asked in the statement. “The problem of people penalized for criticizing Israel is not limited to me, and most scholars and students have no comparable capacity to mobilize public attention.”

The Carr Center first began recruiting Roth to serve as a fellow in April, after he announced his planned departure from Human Rights Watch, which he led for almost 30 years. But Roth was denied the fellowship two weeks after meeting with Elmendorf. As first reported by The Nation and confirmed by The Chronicle, the dean’s reasoning was that Human Rights Watch and Roth himself had what he described as an “anti-Israel bias.”

A professor who heard the dean explain his decision told The Chronicle, “The point wasn’t so much that Doug Elmendorf thought that, but that ‘some people in the university’ who mattered to him did.”

Elmendorf’s decision to deny Roth the job drew widespread criticism from students, faculty, and free-speech advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, PEN America, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. In a statement on Thursday, PEN America praised the reversal.

“It is important for institutions to be able to recognize where they have made an error that encroaches on free speech and academic freedom and to correct it,” said Jonathan Friedman, director of PEN’s free expression and education program, in the statement. “That said, questions remain about why Roth was denied this fellowship in the first place.”

A 16-member executive board made up of “business and philanthropic leaders,” who are “among the most committed financial supporters of the school,” advises the dean, according to the Kennedy School’s website. A handful of those board members have ties to Israel, according to The Nation.

Elmendorf said in an email to affiliates of the Kennedy School obtained by The Chronicle that that his decision was not influenced by donors. He has maintained that the original decision was made based on an evaluation of Roth’s “potential contributions to the Kennedy School.”

Elmendorf has emphasized that his decision was not made in an effort to limit debate at the Kennedy School. He said he plans to ask a faculty committee to develop a process to evaluate future appointments of fellows.

“As a community we are steadfastly committed to free inquiry and including a wide range of views on public policy, and the appointment of a fellow is never an endorsement of the views of that individual nor a refutation of other views.” Elmendorf wrote in the email obtained by The Chronicle.