Student Reports Verbal Attack

A Harvard senior filed a report with the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) last week that said she was the victim of a racially motivated verbal attack. The report said the attack was directed at her because of her Muslim background, and the incident has sparked concern among Muslim students and other student organizations on campus.

Huma Farid ’06 said that as she was walking on Quincy Street past Lamont Library at around 6 p.m. last Monday, she was speaking with her father on her cell phone when she heard screaming from a group of women across the street.

“As I got towards them, it got louder and louder, and I could hear the words—they were screaming ‘filthy Jew-hater,’” she said. “I kept walking, and this one woman kept repeating the words over and over again. I turned around, and this woman—in her 40’s, middle aged, white—was chasing me.”

Farid—who wrote in an e-mail that she believes she was targeted because she “wears Hijab and thus looks obviously Muslim”—said that she ran across the street, where she bumped into friends who escorted her back to her room in Eliot House.

She then reported the incident to both the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and CPD.

CPD Spokesman Frank T. Pasquarello did not return repeated requests for comment.

Farid said she was shocked that such an incident could occur at an institution that is generally extremely tolerant.

“I definitely think this is an exception to the norm,” she said. “I’ve never faced any sort of discrimination, and I’ve been wearing a head scarf for a long time. It was very jarring to have something like this happen on a campus where I feel safe and people are so tolerant.”

Other Muslim undergraduates and representatives from Islamic student groups were surprised by the incident, expressing concern that it occurred in a community that they consider tolerant of all cultures.

“I don’t associate this type of ignorance with Harvard,” said Secretary of the Harvard Islamic Society (HIS) A. Rauda Tellawi ’08. “I mean, after what happened with Huma, I now consider it a bigger issue, but when I came here I wouldn’t have expected it.”

Owais Siddiqui ’07, the former external relations officer of HIS, said she thinks such incidents are extremely rare.

“I don’t think that there is an anti-Muslim sentiment on campus at all,” she said. “[Incidents like this] are few and far between.”

But Siddiqui said that Muslims may be more prone to such attacks because of the hijab, or head covering, a physical indicator of their faith.

“Wearing one makes [the fact that she is Muslim] very prominent,” she said.

Alka R. Tandon ’07, president of the Harvard South Asian Association (SAA), said that she has been impressed by the interest that Harvard students have in other cultures.

“I’ve never actually heard of any display of hate directed at any members of the SAA or at HIS at all,” she said. “I’ve only been amazed at how willing Harvard students are to appreciate South Asian culture and cultures that are different from their own.”

Because last Monday’s incident did not occur on Harvard University property, it is being investigated by the CPD. HUPD Spokesman Steven G. Catalano declined to comment because the investigation is being handled by CPD.

Farid said that while she filed the police report with CPD, HUPD was also very receptive.

“They called back a little while later to make sure that everything was okay,” she said.

Farid said she wanted to get word out that racially-motivated incidents still can occur near the Harvard campus.

“I think it’s important that people be notified about what happened and that these things do happen,” she said.

—Staff writer Reed B. Rayman can be reached at rrayman@fas.harvard.edu.