Harvard College Will Ignore Student Magazine Article Echoing Hitler Unless It Faces Complaints, Deming Says

Harvard College Dean David J. Deming said during an interview on Friday that he would not review or comment on an article in a conservative student publication that echoed language from an Adolf Hitler speech because the College had not received complaints about the piece.

“If a student violates a College rule, then that’s something I want to know about, because they should face disciplinary proceedings — or certainly if they violate the law,” Deming said during the interview. “But beyond that, students have a right to express themselves, and students have a right to be outraged at the expressions that others give.”

The article, published in the Harvard Salient’s September edition, did not attribute any language to Hitler, and the organization maintained that neither its author nor editors intended to invoke him. But one line in the piece — “Germany belongs to the Germans, France to the French, Britain to the British, America to the Americans” — closely follows the words of a speech Hitler delivered to Reichstag delegates in 1939.

The Salient edition containing the article was dropped off in Harvard’s undergraduate dormitories early last month. It landed on students’ doorsteps in the middle of a long-running debate over the bounds of free speech on college campuses.

Harvard, facing concerns that its liberal environment suppressed right-wing voices, has leaned into support for conservative student groups and emphasized its commitment to ideological diversity on campus — even when affiliates express provocative or offensive views. The University adopted an institutional neutrality policy in May 2024, limiting official statements on public controversies. It also installed inboxes on students’ doors after the Salient complained that faculty deans were limiting the publication’s door-to-door distribution.

But Harvard was, at times, previously quick to denounce at least some speech that its leaders saw as harmful. Administrators, including Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 and former College Dean Rakesh Khurana, swiftly condemned an antisemitic cartoon posted on Instagram by two pro-Palestine student organizations in 2024.

The Salient article, which generated backlash among students but little public commentary, received no response from University or College administrators.

The piece, written by David F.X. Army ’28, included the line beginning “Germany belongs to the Germans” as part of an argument that ethnic groups hold rights to their ancestral homelands and should restrict migration to preserve cultural cohesion.

The original German phrase, which translates as “France to the French, England to the English, America to the Americans, and Germany to the Germans,” appeared in Hitler’s 1939 speech in the context of a defense of the expulsion of Jews from Germany. It has spread widely in right-wing and nationalist circles, but was reportedly rejected as a slogan by leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party because of its association with the Nazis.

Richard Y. Rodgers ’28, the Salient’s editor-in-chief, wrote in a statement that the piece’s author “did not intentionally quote Adolf Hitler, nor did any member of our editorial staff recognize the resemblance prior to publication.”

He wrote that the phrase “is a generic nationalist formulation that has appeared countless times across centuries of political rhetoric.”

“The article was a meditation on how nations and cultures preserve coherence in an age of rootless cosmopolitanism and global homogenization. To confuse a defense of belonging for a manifesto on exclusion is a fault of the reader, not the writer,” he wrote.

Army’s article argued that migration from Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia poses a threat to Western Europe’s stability and sovereignty.

“The demographic replacement of Europe’s native populations is no conspiracy theory; it is an observable fact, and it threatens the very soul of Western civilization,” Army wrote.

Western countries, he argued, must embrace principles of national fraternity “rooted in blood, soil, language, and love of one’s own” to preserve their historical heritage.

Deming declined to comment on the Salient article during Friday’s interview, saying he had not read it. The Crimson provided Deming with a copy of the article prior to the interview.

He also declined to review the article when offered another copy on Friday, saying that he would look into it only if it were reported to the College as a rule violation and processed as a disciplinary case.

“I take our rules and our policies very seriously, and if this or anything else is brought to me in that context, you better believe I’m going to look at it and take it seriously,” he said. “But I’m not going to just chase it.”

The antisemitic image in the February 2024 Instagram posts drew public outrage and Harvard Hillel, the University’s Jewish center, wrote that its leaders were “in contact with the administration” shortly after the posts were published. (The two student groups removed the posts and issued an apology online the next day.) The case was referred to the Harvard College Administrative Board.

Deming said he was not aware of any complaints submitted to the College regarding the Salient’s September edition.

“If you think it violates a College rule, then you should report it, and then I will deal with it as the dean of the College,” he said. “So my answer to students is put it through the process.”

“Exercise your rights to free speech and free expression and talk about it. Say why you think it’s outrageous, have that be part of the conversation,” he added.

College administrators have publicly signaled their support for conservative students in recent months. After the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in September, Deming condemned the killing and pledged to protect conservative students during a previously scheduled event with conservative student groups held at the home of Dean of Students Thomas G. Dunne.

Last February, after the Salient complained to administrators that faculty deans in upperclassmen Houses had restricted their monthly door-to-door magazine distribution, the College announced plans to install inboxes on dormitory doors.

Then-Salient President Sarah L. Steele ’18-’26 framed the dispute as a battle over free speech, alleging that the Salient’s distribution had been targeted because of its conservative bent, though the Houses that restricted distribution said loose magazines posed a fire and slip hazard. Since the inboxes’ installation, student groups have used them to distribute everything from marketing materials to protest flyers.

Later in the Friday interview, Deming said he felt “positive” about the climate of free speech on campus.

“If you read the portrayal of Harvard in the news, you get a sense that this campus is full of activism and full of people yelling at each other — it’s just completely untrue,” he said. “Our students, to me, don’t seem very afraid to engage across difference.”

“This feels like a campus where there’s very healthy intellectual exchange and dialogue happening to me,” he added.

—Staff writer Samuel A. Church can be reached at samuel.church@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @samuelachurch.

—Staff writer Cam N. Srivastava can be reached at cam.srivastava@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @camsrivastava.