White Nationalist Site Targets Khurana, Troung

A blog article posted last week on white nationalist website ‘VDARE’ targeted Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana for his stated support of undocumented students, inviting readers to contact Khurana and calling on federal law enforcement officials to arrest him.

The post, entitled “Break Harvard And Arrest Rakesh Khurana and Loc Truong,” also takes aim at Director of Diversity and Inclusion Programs Loc Truong. It argues that the administrators’ attitude toward undocumented students was an “open defiance of the immigration laws of the United States” and that the administrators should face “criminal prosecution.”

In November, Khurana said he would prioritize protecting Harvard’s undocumented students at what he called a “time of uncertainty,” as President Donald Trump prepared to take office. In outlining measures the College would take, Khurana appointed Truong to act as a “point person” for any concerns raised by undocumented students.

In an emailed statement, Khurana affirmed his support for undocumented students.

“As Dean, I am proud to support and stand up for all of our students, and will continue to do so,” Khurana said.

The article also implores readers to report Khurana and Truong to the Department of Homeland Security and the Diplomatic Security Service, providing phone numbers and addresses for two Boston-based government agents. The article also provided Khurana and Truong’s email addresses, calling for readers to contact them directly.

VDARE, a commentary site which describes itself as the “premier outlet for patriotic immigration reform,” regularly publishes articles calling for stricter immigration laws, and arguing that diversity is harmful to America.

In his response, Khurana also said the College values diversity, writing, “every student here at Harvard College—whatever their race, religion, gender, sexual preference, immigration status, or other identities—enriches our community."

The Southern Poverty Law Center categorizes the website as “an anti-immigration hate website.” Previous articles posted on the site have argued that African Americans exhibit poorer judgement than other races, and that homosexuality is a transmittable disease.

Peter Brimelow, founder and editor of VDARE.com, wrote in an email that the site “believes that legal immigration should be cut back, illegal immigration should be halted and the stock of illegals in the country eliminated.”

“Quite obviously, the activities of these Harvard bureaucrats are of interest to us in this regard,” Brimelow said.

The post, written under an anonymous screen name, makes a series of unsubstantiated claims about the administrators, including that Khurana “wants to make America part of Mexico."

Brimelow defended the integrity of the site, writing that the blogger was “ drawing logical conclusions to make political points.”

The blogger also took issue with Harvard as an institution, writing that the university “hates the historic American nation, White Americans, and President Trump.”

“It will also be a good start to draining the swamp, as Harvard is part of the problem with corruption and anti-Americanism,” the blogger wrote, describing his rationale for advocating Khurana and Truong be reported to authorities.

White nationalist interests have targeted Harvard affiliates in the past.

Last year, when Ron K. Unz ’83 was a candidate for Harvard’s Board of Overseers, The Crimson reported that he had donated tens of thousands of dollars to VDARE.

In October, an email with the subject line “Fight White Genocide - Vote Trump!” promoting similar anti-immigrant sentiment was sent to some undergraduates, prompting Harvard to call upon police to investigate.

—Staff writer Graham W. Bishai can be reached at graham.bishai@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @grahambishai