The co-chair of a task force set up by Harvard University to combat antisemitism has resigned. It was the latest blow to the university’s efforts to address complaints that Jewish students have felt increasingly uncomfortable on campus since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7.
The co-chair — Raffaella Sadun, a professor of business administration — tendered her resignation on Sunday. She was appointed about a month earlier by Harvard’s interim president, Alan Garber.
Dr. Sadun said in a statement on Sunday that she would continue to support efforts to tackle antisemitism from her position on the Harvard faculty. She did not immediately respond to requests on Monday for comment.
Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi of Harvard Chabad said on Monday that he had heard “from numerous people familiar with her thinking” that Dr. Sadun was dissatisfied with the pace at which Harvard was addressing complaints of antisemitism.
He said others at Harvard shared her view. “There’s been a widespread sense in the community that there’s been so much data already on this,” Rabbi Zarchi said. “This task force was created in a recognition that there’s a problem. It’s difficult for many to understand why it takes so long to bring about the change in a more timely, urgent manner.”
The departure follows an uproar over the appointment of the task force’s other co-chair, Derek J. Penslar, a professor of Jewish history at Harvard.
